Tagged: Brad Wieners
42 Years of strange doings in SF/Oakland/Bay Area & Beyond. Please help me raise some $ for my once in a lifetime show
This November 17th. – general fundraiser at Pro Arts. Open to the public. Tickets available at: Eventbright tix to fundraiser.
Limited Curated experience. 10 people max – Tour of artist studio and limited edition of 10 signed prints of Golden Gate Bridge 50th Anniversary : Tickets here: Eventbright tix to curated experience.
Billboard Liberation Front action 1980. Collaboration between “Jack Napier” (John Law) & “Simon Wagstaff” nome de guerre for a well known local SF character.
JL neon piece for SRL “Doom”show 1994.
JL photo Golden Gate Bridge 1986
Natalia Mount, Executive Director of this landmark gallery in the very heart of Oakland, is curating the show and has been working with me to burrow and wade through my massive pile of poorly organized photos, video/film, documents, neon pieces and all sorts of material produce during my four decades of trouble making, experience design, artifact making, collaborative work and explorations.
JL as “Vito Lawtoni” in Don Herron’s The Fatty Arbuckle caper, 1980.
We need to raise a substantial amount of money in order to print huge photos, produce several finished videos out of mountains of raw footage, restore some neon sculptures and make some new, finance travel and accommodations for five (1, 2, 3, 4, 5 as of now, maybe more) of my collaborators (unindicted co-conspirators as they say) from over the years and to cover any number of other expenses. 
As usual, I am broke and in a hurry. I don’t drink, drug, gamble, womanize or waste money; it is just tough financially these days. Pro-Arts is experiencing the typical travails of most smaller cultural institutions and is underfunded as well. Moneys raised will all go directly to producing this show and to support this wonderful community based, yet influential gallery.
Kodachrome Magazine 2017 article on neon artists featuring JL
“Detroit” 2016. 28′ x 14″ x 10″ metal, glass, distressed matchbox cars, astro-turf, neon, opaque crystal ball. Like most of my work, this is a ham fisted metaphor! Various neon installations and sculpture here.
Please pass this link along and spread the word. If you have worked with me or enjoyed any of the products of the collaborations and (occasionally incognito) creative projects I have driven or contributed to or any of the transgressive cabals (my neon piece is at 1:44 & 2:00) or ridiculous pranks that may have benefited from my efforts, I really need the help and feedback now. I am not done yet; this show is just a retrospective of my first four decades here. With luck, we’ll have another one when I am 100 in 2058……
Oh, almost forgot, this is also my 60th B-day party.
LINK TO 42 YEAR ONE MAN RETROSPECTIVE AT PRO ARTS GALLERY JUNE 7TH TIL AUGUST 24TH, 2019
Chaos, Cacophony and the Commonwealth Club of California
Robert Hubbard, Jerry James, Rich Perry, & John Law: typical Cacophony event, 1990. photo courtesy Robert Hubbard
Chuck Palahniuk’s pivotal novel Fight Club was partially inspired by Cacophony, which served as a model for the novels dangerous prankster cabal Project Mayhem. Ask Chuck what the heck he was thinking!
Santa “Chuck” at Cacophony SantaCon (Santarchy, Kringle Klot, Santa Rampage, etc., ad nauseum) Portland 1996. photo by Bob Gelman John Law has been causing trouble since his pre-teen years. If anyone’s curious, now could be the time to find out why he threw away a potential career as a welder in the mid-West or maybe a retail clerk in exchange for 35 years of Suicide Club and Cacophony Society involvement. photograph by Robert Gelman 1996
Carrie Galbraith (Ethyl Ketone) and Phil Bewely on their event the 1st Cacophony Zone Trip 1988.Carrie Galbraith created a thing called Zone Trip. This is your chance to see what this Cacophony birthed concept had to do (everything) with the genesis of The Burning Man Festival.
(from top down) Brad Wieners, dunno, dunno, Mark Herbert, Kevin Mathieu, Dan Miller & John Law & a really cool Brooklyn Cat who’s name I cannot recall who climbed giant unused smoke stacks and planted trees atop them! Manhattan Bridge, 1996. photograph by A. Leo Nash
Heavy hitting and darn serious NYC journalist and editor Brad Wieners covered early period Cacophony (and BM) hi-jinx before he got serious! He knows the best tales and where the bodies are buried. Come and pick his brain….
The Commonwealth Club of California is hosting this event at the historic Castro Theater in SF.
Yes, the grown-ups are finally paying attention. Commonwealth couldn’t get George Shultz or Hillary Clinton again, so they invited us. We intend to make the best of it and get one of our books in each of their homes where their kids will find and use it.
Sisters Kitty Catalyst and Dana Van Iquity of the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence at an early Cacophony outing expressing themselves demurely to all with in earshot! photograph by Rusty Blazenhoff
Sisters Dana Van Iquity, Kitty Catalyst and Reyna Terror of The Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence have graciously agreed to bless our event.
Stuart (Blank DeCoverly) Mangrum BLF (ret.) will read from his Cacophony 12 Step program to close the stage presentation.
A book signing is the finale with Law and Galbraith and Palahniuk signing copies of Tales of the San Francisco Cacophony Society.
Doc Anderson, Eric “Geekboy” Salmonson, Stuart Mangrum and Brody Culpepper at a Cacophony literary (drinking) event circa 1996
John Law and Kevin Evans 1995
Co-author Kevin Evans will be in the house (possibly even signing books! And out front will be The famous Doggie Diner DogHeads.
The Meat Parade 1997. Elizabeth, Vanessa and Abernathy provide the meat along with the Doggie Diner Dog Heads.
Emily Duffy with her Mondrian Mobile. photograph by Harrod Blank
Kal Spellitich at the 1st annual Meat Parade, How Berkeley Can You Be Parade, October 1996. photo by Rusty Blazenhoff
Machine artist and Cacophonist Kal Spellitech will be in the house as will RoboGames and Cacophony 2.0 organizers Simone Davalos and David Calkins.
The Brides of March. David Calkins in the lower left hand image. Photos by Jillian Northrup
The Bay Area Art Car community will be represented by Emily Duffy and friends.
Please join us at the Castro Theater this coming Monday evening the 23rd night of September. We can only guarantee that you will leave knowing stuff you probably cannot find out anywhere else! Whether you need this type of input or not and what you might do with it is entirely up to you.
The authors, presenters, attending artists, The Castro Theater and The Commonwealth Club accept no responsibility for your future actions.
cheers, JL, CG and the remaining members of the Cacophony Society.
Chuck Palahniuk and the SF Cacophony Society: Creating Culture from Mayhem
– See more at: http://www.commonwealthclub.org/events/2013-09-23/chuck-palahniuk-and-sf-cacophony-society-creating-culture-mayhem#sthash.JVvmexCQ.dpuf