#Kembra Pfahler

[z0mbievomit]

happy birthday kembra pfahler!!! such a huge inspiration to me <3

[ode2miss-shared-epiphany4you]

[finaldoomsayer]

[superficia]

Rick Owens x Kembra Pfahler

[therunwayarchive]

Kembra Pfahler at Batsheva, Spring 2023

[spilladabalia]

The Voluptuous Horror Of Karen Black - My Heart Will Go On

[nicklloydnow]

“I grew up in the 1960s in Hermosa Beach, California – a golden South Bay surfer city. My father, Freddy Pfahler, was a legendary surfer who was in Bruce Brown documentaries, including The Endless Summer (1966) and Slippery When Wet (1958). It was an idyllic time, when surfing was our American Renaissance and the lights of consciousness were being turned on. There was so much ritual, mythology and non-traditional religious custom in my life – like getting up at 5am with my father to watch the tide.

(…)

Mary Heilmann, Lorraine O’Grady – in fact, I was in a performance this year with Lorraine, Laurie Anderson and Anohni at The Kitchen in New York called She Who Saw Beautiful Things. It was dedicated to the late Japanese trans performer Dr Julia, who played with Anohni and the Johnsons. And, in 2008, my work was shown alongside Mary Heilmann’s at the Whitney Biennial. I’ve been incredibly lucky to work with some of my favourite teachers and artists. I didn’t care for Joseph Kosuth, though. He once screamed at me: ‘Kembra, what are you?’ At first, I turned away, because his words really hurt me. Then I looked him in the eye and said: ‘I’m an availabilist. I make the best use of what’s available.’ Sometimes, anger can point you in a direction, and that’s what happened to me that day. I invented availabilism because he enraged me.

(…)

My first husband, Samoa Moriki. When I first saw him, he was dancing on the bar at the Pyramid Club in the East Village. We were married and worked together for 21 years. He was from Hiroshima and adored Japanese theatre: Butoh, Noh and playwrights like Yukio Mishima. But he especially loved extreme outside performances, in which people would dive from the sky into pools of water: physically courageous, beautiful acts. Samoa appeared at one of the first Wigstock drag festivals with Lady Bunny and collaborated with the great performance artist Tanya Ransom, who sadly died of AIDS. Ransom was queer but had a child with a woman called Paula Swede. At the time, many of us were gender fluid and simply didn’t talk about it: the language was only just being born. Later, important people like Ron Athey, Bruce LaBruce and Vaginal Creme Davis would articulate it.

(…)

I loved all of Karen Black’s films: she was somehow beautiful yet ugly, and her consciousness was so expanded. One day, Mike Kuchar, the underground filmmaker, said to me: ‘Oh, Kembra: your work looks voluptuously horrific.’ And that’s how the name started. Karen Black actually came to the band’s first L.A. performance, in 1991, and introduced us saying: ‘I’m not sure if this is meant to be an insult or an homage: does voluptuous mean I’m curvy or fat?’ Then she took my hand and said: ‘You’re an artist and this is a creative project.’ She never sued me; she just let me be an artist.

(…)

I do feel the need for community and I believe the greatest changes are wrought through open-mindedness and grassroots activism – the principles of which are still the most vital to me. Important as it is to collaborate and meet others, though, I still spend a great deal of time isolating myself, instinctively protecting this painful humanity. But I learned the value of contrarianism from Lydia Lunch. So, when I crave retreat, I remind myself to go out.

(…)

There’s a very thin veil of freedom and truth over what is currently known as democracy. I would love to invent a different vocabulary for what exists now, but I can’t articulate it today.”

“Perseverance is something I don't think about. I don’t really suggest anyone navigating their work in any way unfamiliar to their own instinctual process. The harm comes when people start doing work for others instead of themselves or by doing what’s popular. As long as an artist stays true to their instincts there’s never a moment of despair. It’s a luxury to be able to do creative projects. Many can’t because they’re taking care of their families or their children. Art isn’t cool anymore, it’s for greedy suckers. Being creative is freedom and sharing what you make is like a celebration of that freedom. But art is for creeps these days, it’s become so disproportionally monetized people feel like failures when they don’t make money. Money has deformed art and money itself should be redesigned. It’s aesthetically so ugly. Change the size paper! Have someone do a sharpie drawing for the 2 dollar bill. The government has been so creative with stamps, they should get creative with money. I’m not sure if I answered that question either.

(…)

The girls of Karen Black I haven’t spoken about enough Christian Music, Alice Moy, Jackie Rivera or Chloé Blackshire. These women have illustrated the songs with costumes and a strong dislike of show business. The show must not go on. We aren’t in the entertainment business, we are just artists who accidentally formed a band that at times has more of an outreach than decorating a wealthy person's home. I like that it’s hard to put a picture frame around what artists do collaboratively. I don’t have a team, a manager, or anyone advising us on relevancy. I don't care if you think I’m relevant. I don’t have a career. I have a life and it’s fun to share things we learn or discover. That’s where art serves its greatest purpose. What else do we do? War? Make prisons for sick poor people or create shit jobs that don’t pay? Being creative and sharing is a benevolent human trajectory that’s difficult to irradiate even under the most heinous conditions. It lifts the spirits.”

“TVHKB is an interdisciplinary rock band established by my first husband Samoa Moriki and myself. We were married for 21 years. The band is named after one of my favourite characters in the 1975 fi lm Trilogy of Terror by director Dan Curtis. In terms of the new album, it took me about ten years to compile the lyrics. I don’t have a label that supports me and therefore I don’t have any time constraints. My last album I shelved and didn’t put out … I guess I’m fortunate because I don’t have people pushing me for management of my time. When I was a child in Los Angeles, I decided that I didn’t want to live on that side of the tracks, in terms of representation and what not. People were always asking me, “What’s up with your makeup?” and “Why do you dress like that?” I’d say, “What makeup? I’m not wearing any makeup, I usually wear full body paint!” [Laughs] It’s a lifestyle choice, I guess. I chose to be who I want to be. I have very intelligent friends and family so I have the tools to learn how to not listen to people telling me that I can’t do what I want to do.

(…)

To me, a renaissance is a golden time when the lights get turned on. I think New York in the ’80s was certainly a golden era, but of course things change. The years leading up to the ’80s in New York saw some really powerful ‘consciousness raising’ changes – those were the years that gave us people like Martin Luther King and Malcolm X and Alan Watts from the ’60s, when lights got turned on. Now, in 2021, it’s really nice to see young people getting to open galleries and run publications, but I think there has been a big change in corporate morality. There is still misogyny and racism here, those things have never been eradicated. I think a lot of larger corporations and galleries now monopolise on this.

(…)

The hard question is: how do we participate in capitalism knowing how virulent it is without utterly starving to death? It’s something young people, old people, everyone is dealing with. Dictatorships and facism have never been absent from the state of war, which transcends the modern day. It’s like that ACDC song, “War Machine” – it’s such an old song but it’s still so relevant today.

(…)

I would say, never compare yourself to other artists. That’s what I tell my students at Yale and Columbia. Be your own kind of artist.”

[certifiedprofessionalhousewife]

Kembra Pfahler

Kitty Masturbation 1 & 2

Felt-tip pen on paper

2001

[romeoscreentime]

new tattoo

[introspect-la]

RICK OWENS KEMBRA PFAHLER SSENSE 2023 TVHKB FLAG SCARF

[bitter69uk]

“New York glitter-punk outfit The Voluptuous Horror of Karen Black began life as a near-death experience. Shortly before forming the band in 1990, front woman Kembra Pfahler was strangled in a brutal mugging and almost died. While recovering, battered and zonked on painkillers, she watched the 1975 horror movie Trilogy of Terror on television. The film stars Karen Black, the quirky cross-eyed actress whose wildly erratic career encompasses everything from some of the key American films of the 1970s (Easy Rider, Five Easy Pieces, Nashville, Day of the Locust) to mainstream Hollywood schmaltz (Airport 1975) to obscure straight-to-VHS exploitation / horror dreck. In Trilogy's best-known segment, Black is stalked by and eventually possessed by a cursed malevolent Zuni fetish doll which has come to life. [SPOILER ALERT] It concludes with a final jolting image of the now-crazed and murderous, knife-wielding Black grinning blank-eyed and maniacal to the camera to reveal a mouthful of razor-sharp teeth identical to the Zuni doll’s … In her traumatized state, that savage and disturbing image -- combined with almost dying -- made a powerful impression on Pfahler. Inspired, she would blacken out her teeth, conceal her natural fine-featured beauty under cadaverous make-up and take to the stage clad in little more than a pair of thigh boots and a coat of body paint. Pfahler’s look can suggest a character from a John Waters film given an “ugly make-over”: think of Divine as the acid-scarred Dawn Davenport in Female Trouble (1974), an image which seems to anticipate TVHKB’s twisted glamour. Like Divine before her, Pfahler shaves off her eyebrows and shaves back her hairline to accommodate her extreme eye make-up. “I want to be both very beautiful and very repulsive,” Pfahler would explain to The Toronto Star in 1994.”

/ From my own blog post “The Voluptuous Horror of Karen Black at Meltdown Festival 10 August 2012” /

Born on this day 62 years ago (4 August 1961): California girl-turned-NYC provocative performance artist, Cinema of Transgression actress and Voluptuous Horror of Karen Black voodoo-dolly singer Kembra Pfahler. Photo of Pfahler by me!

[purehe11]

[transpondster]

Photos from various concerts I've seen in New York City, not in chronological order. I'm just posting these bc I went back to a previous Photos app library on an external drive and saw a bunch that I haven't seen in a few years. Many / most of these were shot with first- or second-generation iPhone cameras, so they're blurry and hard to really see but I don't mind. From the top:

Patty Schemel, Eric Erlandson, and Melissa Auf Der Maur from Hole, standing outside a theater in the East Village that had just screened Patty's documentary about her life in the band. Not really a 'concert', but I'll allow it

Pavement in Central Park

Quasi, at the Bowery Ballroom

M. Ward show, Central Park

David Byrne, Radio City Music Hall

King Crimson, Madison Square Garden Theater (small venue adjacent to the bigger MSG)

Paul Simon, giving a free talk on songwriting at the Union Square Barnes & Noble

Line of fans along W16th Street to see an early Justin Bieber show at the Highland Ballroom (i did not attend that show but the very long line outside my apartment building surprised me in 2008 to snap that photo)

Foo Fighters at MSG

Waiting for Nick Lowe and Robyn Hitchcock at The Grand Ballroom

Waiting for Aimee Mann at the Town Hall

Outside St. Ann's Warehouse in Brooklyn before the doors opened for a benefit concert featuring Lou Reed, Laurie Anderson, Antony, Blonde Redhead, Scissor Sisters, Norah Jones, and Damien Rice

The Voluptuous Horror of Karen Black, at the Park Avenue Armory during the Whitney Biennale

REM at MSG

Jackson Browne playing at a Borders Bookstore on the UES

Liz Phair at a club attached to the Maritime Hotel in Chelsea

Roxy Music at MSG

[thecoolstuffoutpost]

Source

Dive into the Sensual World of Penthouse Magazine - September 1998: Featuring Kembra Pfahler, Eric Kroll, Van Halen, and a Rare Bonus - Two Exclusive 5x7 Prints!"

🔥 Ignite Your Passions with a Sizzling September Issue 🔥

Prepare to be captivated by the allure and tantalizing content of Penthouse Magazine's September 1998 edition. In this extraordinary issue, we bring you a blend of art, culture, and sensuality that will leave you breathless.

🌟 Featured Highlights:

🌟 Kembra Pfahler: The Avant-Garde Enigma - Get to know the captivating Kembra Pfahler, a fearless artist, musician, and performer who challenges conventions with her thought-provoking creations.

🌟 Eric Kroll: The Visionary Lensman - Delve into the world of renowned photographer Eric Kroll, known for his captivating imagery that explores the boundaries of desire and sensuality.

🎶 Van Halen: Rock Legends - Join us as we celebrate the iconic rock band Van Halen, exploring their legendary music and the impact they've made on the world of rock 'n' roll.

🖼️ Bonus Exclusive: Receive two rare and collectible 5x7 prints, featuring captivating visuals that complement the themes of this extraordinary issue.

[heavnarchive]

THE ANTI-NATURALISTS CD - $60

[badmovieihave]

Bad movie I have Divide and Conquer 2021