Living with Legends: Hotel Chelsea Blog

Tips For Artists in The Capitol Fishing Tackle "Empty by Choice" Show

Earlier this week a commenter asked how the works in the Capitol Fishing Tackle Show address the economy.  Here's the only answer we've found so far. One of the proposed exhibits at the "Empty by Choice" show is titled “Tips for Future Occupants.”  Of the storefront, that is.  Well, we can give you two tips for the book. Ask the Bards and get a 50-year lease like El Quijote or they’ll boot you as soon as the economy recovers.  Afterall, Capitol Fishing Tackle was in that space for over 50 years and survived many recessions.  They didn't survive the legal manuevers of Marlene Krauss and David Elder. If you have any "Tips for Future Occupants" leave them in the comment box.

SPIN - CONTROLS - R - US

Oh, so now according to the Chelsea Hotel official website Nadia donated the painting to the Hotel.  (Does this mean the Hotel is back to being a non-profit organization?) I see!  So sorry for the misunderstanding!  Heads up Elder, when you try to do spin control don't link to the offending truthful story.

 

Related Coverage:
Mark L. Young Stops by the Chelsea
Good News for Chelsea Hotel Painters 
Did David Elder Play Chelsea Now?

Arthur Nash’s BBB Banner Rejected From Art Show at Capitol Fishing Tackle

Well, the worst has finally happened: though it had hung in one form or another for two years, tenant activist Arthur Nash’s BRING BACK THE BARDS banner was removed from the hotel’s façade at approximately 8:45 this morning. Kinda-sorta manager Arnold Tamasar did the honors in person, as a police officer and a security guard stood by. 
     Obviously, this was not a police matter, but rather a matter for the city agencies and the courts. The cop’s explanation for allowing the sign’s removal was that only the owners of a buiding are allowed to hang signs on the façade of the building. This is open to debate, and in fact it was being discussed with various city agencies. The cop further stated that, since Arthur didn’t have a door to the balcony (like many residents, he climbs through his window), he was not allowed go onto the balcony at all. We believe that the police officer exceeded his authority in aiding the hotel management in their suppression of Nash’s first amendment rights.
     The timing of the hotel’s move against Nash, as well as the (former) location of the banner, are significant. On the weekend of June 18, the hotel, in conjunction with No Longer Empty, is planning an art show (featuring mostly outside artists) in the former Capitol Fishing Tackle storefront. Nash’s sign was positioned on the second floor almost directly above the storefront. Obviously it would be a huge embarrassment to the hotel management to have to explain what the sign meant to everyone attending the event.
     We believe this to be an illegal infringement on Nash’s first amendment rights. Plain and simple, this is intimidation and harassment meant to stifle all dissenting voices, and as such represents the end of free speech at the Chelsea—if indeed any pretense of it remained after the ouster of the Bards.

 

 

"TALLY BROWN: NEW YORK"

Rosa Von Praunheim, the director of "TALLY BROWN, NEW YORK," is in town. He will be showing his film at the Anthology Archives this Saturday, June   6th.  Former Chelsea Hotel resident Ching ho Cheng is in this film.

TALLY BROWN was a bohemian artist and underground star living in New York. She starred in some ANDY WARHOL films and was a student friend of LEONARD BERNSTEIN. Her interpretation of "Lady grinning soul" by DAVID BOWIE from his album ALLADIN SANE is taken from the soundtrack of the wonderful portrait documentary film TALLY BROWN NEW YORK by german director ROSA VON PRAUNHEIM. (Video via Hanko)

Artists Worldwide: Stand By The Bards

An open letter to the artists planning to participate in the June 18 show in the former Capitol Fishing Tackle storefront at the Chelsea Hotel:

Although some of you may not know this, the Capitol Fishing Tackle is Manhattan’s oldest bait & tackle shop, and had called the Chelsea Hotel home since 1954.  Sadly, in August of 2006 the shop was given a rent increase of more than double its previous rent and forced to move from the Hotel.  The increase came as the direct result of pressure brought to bear by minority shareholders Marlene Krauss and David Elder on then manager Stanley Bard. 

The move did not buy Stanley much time. On June 18, 2007 the Bard family, majority owners of the Chelsea Hotel, were forced from their management role in a hostile takeover  by Krauss and Elder, eager to cash in on the short term profits promised by the superheated  real estate climate of the day.

It was a sad day for artists and friends of the arts worldwide.  The Bard family had managed the hotel since 1942, including almost 50 years by the inimitable Stanley, who is known and loved by several generations of artists who have called the Chelsea Hotel home.  Stanley’s son, David, was scheduled to take over the reins of the hotel, until he too was unjustly ousted.

The reason that you, fellow artists,  know of the Chelsea Hotel and it’s important role in the arts is because of the hard work of the Bard family.  The Bards provided inexpensive housing and a supportive environment for people in the arts for over 60 years.  They played host to the Beats and action painters of the 50s, the Warhol crowd of the 60s, and the punk rockers of the 80s, among countless others.

Krauss and Elder, on the other hand, have made clear that their intention is to evict the permanent tenants and transform the Chelsea into a boutique tourist hotel.  They are not admitting any more permanent residents into the hotel, thus ending a tradition that had endured for almost 125 years.

Because Krauss and Elder have been stymied in their eviction and renovation plans by legal action, the work of dedicated tenant activists, and the downturn in the economy, they are now trying to create good press by posing as “patrons of the arts”.  But they threw out the true patrons of the arts.

 

All of you are stellar artists.  However,  please note the date of the proposed Krauss and Elder sponsored show in the Capitol Fishing Tackle space, for it is in no way random.  You are being invited to participate in a celebration of the two-year anniversary of Krauss and Elder’s hostile takeover.  In keeping with your personal and artistic integrity, we ask that you not participate in this sham.

Good News for Chelsea Hotel Painters

Chelsea Hotel manager David Elder is now accepting paintings in exchange for stays at the famed Chelsea Hotel.  And here we thought those people lined up on the sidewalk were waiting to get into the comedy club.  It's a return to the good old days.  Nadia Bertrand told Chelsea Now that she recently turned over two paintings to David Elder in exchange for a month long stay.  "We'll take it as it goes in terms of if other people are interested," Elder told Chelsea Now.  This should give the occupancy rates around here a big boost.  We hear that the poets will still have to pay.  (Photo of Nadia and her painting by Patrick Hedlund.)

Stefan Brecht Historian of the Avante Garde Theatre, 1924-2009

We only knew Stefan in recent years when he was suffering from a form of Parkinson and we wish we could have known him earlier in his life.  Though sometimes he came across as a misanthrope Stefan had a heart of gold.  Stefan was never a Chelsea Hotel resident but he had a studio here for over two decades and made many friends here over the years. Traveling daily between the Chelsea and his apartment in  Greenwich Village he photographed the sidewalk and recorded the vibe of the neighborhood in his poems, which humanize the underside of the Chelsea neighborhood without romanticizing it in the least.  I reviewed two of Stefan’s books for Chelsea Now and that was how I got to know Stefan and his charming wife Rena Gill.  In April 2007 Stefan’s many friends gathered at St. Mark’s Church in the Bowery to celebrate the release of his two books and to remember Stefan’s long life and illustrious career in the theater.  We are all saddened by his passing.

Stefan Brecht was born in 1924 in Berlin, Germany, and came to America with his family in 1942. He earned a Ph.D. in philosophy at Harvard, and moved to New York in the early ’60s, becoming a critic and historian of avant garde theatre. Brecht marched beside the Bread and Puppet Theatre troupe, and documented Robert Wilson’s group when they met daily in a loft on Spring Street.

Brecht has written poetry all his life. He self-published his first book of poetry, “Poems,” in 1975, which led to his big break when the book was spotted by editor Lawrence Ferlinghetti, who subsequently picked it up for his City Lights Pocket Series.

The recognition facilitated the publication of Brecht’s opus, a multi-volume history of the alternative theater, “The Original Theatre of the City of New York : From the Mid-Sixties to the Mid-Seventies.” Completed volumes include “The Theatre of Visions: Robert Wilson” (Suhrkamp, 1978); “Queer Theatre” (Suhrkamp, 1978); and the two-volume study: “Peter Schumann’s Bread and Puppet Theatre” ( Methuen , 1988). A hitherto untitled volume on the theatre of Richard Foreman ( Methuen) is also scheduled for release. -- Ed Hamilton  (Photo of Stefan Brecht at the Hotel Chelsea, Room 1010, 1979 by Maggie Hopp. 

Highlights from Chelsea Hotel on Film at Anthology Film Archives

    Thanks to all involved for making the Chelsea Hotel Film Festival a success! In addition to attending the press preview for Harry Smith’s #23—a remarkable film, though one of our neighbors tells us that Harry considered it unfinished—we also stopped by the Anthology Film Archives a couple of times over the weekend to check out a few other Chelsea related offerings. 
    We heard that the premiere of #23 was well attended and that celebrities Patti Smith and Lenny Kaye were in the audience. (Patti is featured in the film.) Additionally, Chelsea Hotel historian Sherill Tippins tells us that all the screenings of Andy Warhol’s Chelsea Girls were sold out. (Actually, this is not surprising since it’s rarely shown. We skipped Chelsea Girls this time since we’ve already seen it twice.) So despite recent unfortunate events, and despite the fact that this was Easter weekend, the Chelsea is still popular!  
    On Saturday we attended the screening of Doris Chase’s 1992 documentary Hotel Chelsea. In one of the more interesting interviews, Stanley Bard speaks of how, as a young man, he resented the hotel because his father spent so much time there. Then he goes on to explain how he too gradually came to love the Chelsea. This theme surfaces again in Sam Bassett’s film, as Stanley talks about how his own son David may have initially felt pressured to take a role in the hotel’s management, when in fact he would have rather been doing something else. But the Chelsea bug gradually came to infect David as well. 
    On Sunday, Sherill Tippins introduced the screening of Robert Flaherty’s Louisiana Story, by discussing the hotel’s early years. The Chelsea was of course designed by Fourier disciple Philip Hubert as a socialist experiment in cooperative living; but one think we didn’t know was that, in addition to artists, the building also initially housed some of the financers and builders of the Chelsea. Tippins considers Louisiana Story to be the perfect Chelsea Hotel film. For one thing, it was a collaboration between three Chelsea residents: director Robert Flaherty, composer Virgil Thomson, and cinematographer Richard Leacock. For another, it embodies the aesthetic style of naturalism prevalent in the Chelsea at the time, representing a distinctly American, as opposed to European, tradition. Finally, in an expression of one of the core values of Bohemia, the film demonstrates how master craft person and Chelsea Hotel resident Robert Flaherty is passing his knowledge on to another resident, the young Leacock. 
    What we’re really looking forward to now is a showing of Harry Smith’s great Mahagonny, though we may have to wait awhile, since the folks at AFA tell us that the royalties for the Kurt Weill score of the film are prohibitively expensive. 
    For now, this will have to do!  Recorded in Chelsea Hotel, NYC, 1965. Edited, for length, as part of the Chelsea Hotel Series - Anthology Film Archives, April 2009 Harry Smith discusses hand drawn film techniques, missing films, the process of "visual music," or painting to sound. Smith also discusses borrowed cameras and the pawn shops they end up in, influences through dance and myth, surrealism, op art, and the cataloging of images and "sortilege" method. Interview finishes with the discussion of a future film idea involving Andy Warhol and a 20 minute picture of Mt. Fuji, Jack Smith, Robert Frank, Stan Vanderbeek animating aboriginal bark painting, a screenplay by Jack Kerouac and William Burroughs and maybe Allen Ginsberg, with Smith supervising. Also ideas to make and distribute underground movies to be shown in little towns. Audio transferred, compiled, and edited by Victoria Keddie (NYU) for Anthology Film Archives 04/09/09.

Long Live the Chelsea! Especially on Film & Video

In a huge show of support from one bastion of alternative culture to another, The Anthology Film Archives is presenting Chelsea Hotel on Film, a series of films about, filmed at, or created by residents of the Chelsea Hotel.  (For more info: Brooklyn Rail, NY Times, New Yorker, Chelsea Now, Village Voice, TWI-NY)
Here's the schedule:
Alex Cox, SID AND NANCY -- Punk rockers come from all over the world to burn candles in front of what they believe to be Sid & Nancy ’s door.  Whether we like it or not Sid & Nancy have become the Romeo and Juliet of the Chelsea Hotel. Sid & Nancy is the quintessential Chelsea Hotel movie if for nothing else than the spot-on portrayal of Stanley Bard. 
1986, 1112 minutes, 35 mm. With Gary Oldman, Chloe Webb and Courtney Love
Thursday, April 9 at 7:15 and Friday, April 10 at 9:15

SHIRLEY CLARKE PROGRAM
TEEPEE VIDEO SPACE TROUPE (1971); SAVAGE/LOVE (1981); TONGUES (1982)  Independent filmmaker Shirley Clarke  (the only woman to have a plaque on the front of the hotel) founded The Teepee Video Space Troupe, and operated it out of her Chelsea Hotel penthouse where her later videos were made, including Savage/Love and Tongues, which are a two-part collaboration with playwright Sam Shepard and actor/director Joseph Chaiken.
Plus: Jonas Mekas: CHELSEA FOOTAGE
Thursday, April 9 at 9:30

Harry Smith, FILM #23 --  1980s, 23.5 mintues, 16 mm. A composition of portraits, string figures and sand animation, similar to Smith’s earlier film Late Superimpositions (1964).  Recently restored with support from the Andy Warhol Foundation. Prior to this preservation only one print was said to exist. 
Plus: Michel Auder VIDEO VISIT - HARRY SMITH, ROOM #705, CHELSEA HOTEL 1971
Friday, April 10 at 7:00, Saturday, April 11 at 5:30, and Sunday, April 12 at 9:00

Doris Chase, THE CHELSEA (1993) 67 minutes, video.  THE CHELSEA is an entertaining and informative account of the eclectic personalities who resided at the hotel in 1993.  Many of them still live here!
Plus: Michael Maher BLOGGING FROM BOHEMIA (2007) In the last documentary filmed at the hotel prior to the Bard family's ouster Maher's short documentary reports on the forces of gentrification threatening the Chelsea neighborhood as seen through the eyes of the blog.  Stanley Bard discusses the pressure he's under from the minority shareholders.
Ed Hamilton & Sam Bassett INTERVIEW WITH STANLEY BARD (2008) Filmed one year post ouster Stanley Bard offers a message of hope for struggling Chelsea residents.
Saturday, April 11 at 3:00

Andy Warhol, THE CHELSEA GIRLS (1966) ca. 210 minutes 16 mm double-projection. Showcases the glamorous, drugged out personalities of Warhol’s entourage, featuring Nico, Ondine, Marie Menken, Mary Woronov, Gerard Malanga, International Velvet, Ingrid Superstar, Mario Montez, Eric Emerson, and Brigid Berlin. This is the best film ever made about the hotel and it is rarely shown so you should go down there and see it while you have the chance!
Saturday, April 11 at 7:45 and Sunday, April 12 at 5:00

Robert Flaherty, LOUISIANA STORY (1948) 78 minutes, 35 mm.
This film represents a collaboration between three talented Chelsea Hotel residents. In addition to the director Flaherty, the score was composed by Virgil Thomson and the cinematographer was Ricky Leacock. Writer Sherill Tippins will be on hand to introduce the screening and speak about the Hotel's early days.
Sunday, April 12 at 3:00

The Anthology Film Archives is located at 32 Second Avenue, NY NY

World Premier of Harry Smith’s #23 at Anthology Film Archives

It was the first showing of this film “outside the laboratory” according to the presenter, which makes me pretty lucky, I guess, since it was also my first Harry Smith film—though to gather from the conversation of the over-the-top-serious film buffs who attended Thursday’s press screening, versions of most of the images had appeared in other Smith films as well.

     #23, which consists of two rolls of film, one with a soundtrack, superimposed on each other, was discovered recently among Harry’s films in storage at the Anthology Film Archives, where he was artist-in-residence for many years.  The presenter thought it might consist of footage that didn’t end up in Harry’s famous Mahagonny; in any event it is related to that film, though one of the film buffs said that some of the footage (such as shots of a carpet and various patterns formed out of powered pigment used as background) probably dated to the forties.

     The film itself is a beautiful piece of work, and seems to tell the tale of all humanity, from birth (a young couple superimposed over a matronly woman with her crotch nearly exposed) to death (the black waters of the pond in central park, a supine figure on the Chelsea Hotel roof) as Fate, in the form of a girl demonstrating string figures, weaves her web.  There are several striking images in the film, especially toward the end, including the string-figure girl, attired in black, super-imposed on the waters of the pond, so that only the string, forever reforming itself, is clearly visible; finally, red roses are superimposed on the image of the girl.

     So, in other words, it’s worth seeing.  I don’t know how it stands up to Harry’s other work (obviously), but since this is the only thing showing at the present, go see it.  The soundtrack, one of the film buffs claimed (gee, I’m relying on these guys a lot, aren’t I), was by Johnny Johnson from the 30s with Burgess Meredith reading various WWII-related statements over the music. (UPDATE -  A reader writes: Johnny Johnson is not a composer, but the name of a musical work by Kurt Weill, who composed Mahagonny as well.)

Of interest to Chelsea Hotel aficionados: the film has some footage of Patti Smith and Robert Mapplethorpe, and also of Naomi Levine, a Chelsea character whom old residents may remember.  Rosebud Petit, Harry’s “spiritual wife” also may have appeared, though no one was quite sure if it was her or not.   There’s also a scene at the end of the film that’s shot on the Chelsea Hotel roof (now sadly under assault by minority shareholders who want to put a club up there), apparently shot some time in the late sixties or early seventies to judge by the appearance of the actors.

[Harry Smith’s #23 is being shown as part of the Anthology Film Archives screening of Chelsea Hotel related films.  #23 will be shown Friday, April 10 at 7:00, Saturday, April 11 at 5:30 and Sunday, April 12 at 9:00]

World Premiere: The Secret Life of Fish by Gerald Busby

Barbie Turns 50 in Style with Glasses by Mercura

For the fabulous occasion she has selected funky yet stylish glasses desiged by Mercura, the design company founded by the Chelsea Hotel's own Rachel Cohen and her sister Merrilee.  The Feb. 14 fashion show will feature work by 50 designers and will be shown live on www.barbie.com

Chelsea Legend Doris Chase, 1923-2008

The Chelsea community was saddened by the recent passing of one of its legends: artist, sculptor, and filmmaker Doris Chase.  Doris moved into the Chelsea in 1972, after raising a family and divorcing her husband, and lived here for 30 years, though she split her time between  New York and her native Seattle.  Doris is most famous for her abstract sculptures, especially her nesting ovals and arches, including two large public works in Seattle : the 15-foot “Changing Form” at Kerry Park overlooking the city, and the 17-foot “Moon Gates” at Seattle Center.  
     Though perhaps her most famous film is 1985’s “By Herself: Table for One,” starring Geraldine Page, Doris is undoubtedly most well know around the Chelsea for her film “The Chelsea,” from the early 90s, when free spirits still roamed these halls.  Doris was the subject of a book, “Doris Chase, Artist in Motion: From Painting and Sculpture to Video Art,” by art historian Patricia Failing.  
   Doris died of a combination of Alzheimer’s and a series of strokes, though she reportedly kept her good humor until the end.  She is survived by two sons and their families.  The hearts of the members of the Chelsea community, her other family, go out to them.

Arnold Weinstein Throws Memorable Bash

Here’s an account of a dinner party thrown by Chelsea Hotel legend Arnold Weinstein (30-plus years in residence), Broadway librettist (“Red Eye of Love”) and famous Bon Vivant, known and loved by many at the hotel.  It seems Arnold’s dinner parties must have been quite memorable, because poet Jascha Kessler still recalls this one.  But then, it seems to have ruined Kessler’s life, as he feels he was rudely deprived of the Yale Younger Poets Award by a diabolical anti-Semitic, homosexual plot—or something of the sort—hatched between fellow diners W.H Auden and the eventual winner, John Ashbery (who if I’m not mistaken still lives in the Chelsea neighborhood).  Too bad Arnold is not around to comment on the controversy, as I’m sure he would have had something to say about it, but he passed away, sadly, in 2005, his friends celebrating his life with a memorial show at the Walter Kerr Theatre.  Well, no doubt a fine time (or at least an interesting time) was had by all! -- Ed Hamilton  (Photo: Opera News -- Bill Balcom, Arnold Weinstein and Arthur Miller at work in the Chelsea Hotel on the opera based on Miller's play, " View From the Bridge."

Santa Clause Puts in a Brief Appearance at the Hotel Chelsea

 

FILMMAKER STEPHEN KIJAK GETS PSYCHIC AT THE HOTEL CHELSEA

Scott Walker documentarian speaks to Chelsea Hotel resident Mia Hanson on the eve of the long-  awaited U.S. debut of his film, 30 Century Man.    (portrait by Mia Hanson)

It's been a very busy year for filmmaker Stephen Kijak.  He's back home in NYC just long enough to oversee the weeklong IFC screenings of 30 Century Man, his 2007 documentary on 60's pop icon turned musical enigma Scott Walker.  Anyone actively following the cutting edge of Modern music will be familiar with Scott Walker's creative evolution from his chart-topping days with the Walker Brothers to his mysterious chameleon-like turn as a highly perfectionistic singer-songwriter of dark, beautiful and challenging "operettas".   Buried forever are the approachable lovelorn anthems such as the 1966 Walker Brothers hit  "The Sun Ain't Gonna Shine Anymore".  The singer's current presence in music occupies a space in which only Walker resides.  Few other composers can evoke such a polarity of emotional opinion as Scott Walker as he constructs sonic form out of punched meat sounds and bleating donkey calls.  Few other working composers are as brilliant and uncompromising, leaving both David Bowie (executive producer of 30 Century Man) and Brian Eno speechless and grasping for superlatives on film when attempting to describe their awe of Walker's scope and talent. 

30 Century Man has been winning praise at film festivals in Hong Kong, London, Sydney and Berlin (just to name a few!) while delighting Walker enthusiasts along the way with the gift of illuminating just what it might be like in the very private world of this musical enigma whose persona has been self- exiled in secrecy for decades. 

Luckily, Stephen Kijak is more open to discussing his craft.  It is clear that the documentarian seems drawn to telling the stories of idiosynchratic characters driven by their passion for the inexplicable.  In the film Cinemania, from 2002, his camera follows five film buff enthusiasts all teetering on the edge of a neurotic need to claim the dubious achievement award for who can warm the most theatre seats in NYC within a lifetime.  The film mines for gold and finds it.   You just can't make this stuff up.   Thinking about it,  it becomes more clear why Kijak would take an interest in the Hotel Chelsea, "a vital and significant cultural spot", in his own words.

One can say firsthand that Stephen knows how to stir the interests of fans to his films similarly to the way a filmmaker controls the tension and release of action within a sequence.  Intrigued by Walker's brooding compositions and psychology, I have attempted to purvey a preview copy of 30 Century Man for over a year now and Kijak is very good at controlling the time and place.  "Like all things in Scott's world, it will be worth the wait." 

And with this week's screenings at the IFC Center in Manhattan, the time is Now.

 I met up with Stephen on Wednesday at IFC for what was the first in a schedule of daily screenings up through December 23rd only.   Among all the excitement of the free giveaways during the director Q and A following the film, I neglected to mention that I have rarely seen a documentary so seductive in it's approach and I felt I was genuinely led by the hand and taken inside the sometimes lovely sometimes harrowing Walker compositions.   That night, Stephen confessed that his film had been held back for about a year in the U.S. due to miles of red tape:  "lots of song copyright issues and American lawyers".  

 

1."Why did you feel that a story on Scott Walker was important for you to tell at this time?"

On a practical level, he was about to make a new album, so the timing was perfect - and I had been such  fan for such a long time and had always tried to spread the word about his music, it was, in a way, a chance to make a cinematic mix-tape of my favorite Scott tunes and have his work communicated to a lot of people.  And there's a great story there as well, the story of the evolution of a songwriter, and in that, a lot of lessons that can be learned about the creative process and creative life.

2. "Scott Walker is still a bit of a mystery to his fans. Why has his mystique continued within the music industry for decades, even among his collaborators?"

Because he doesn't play the pop star game.  He may not be as much of a mystery as people actually think, but we're so programmed to think that musicians naturally do interviews and appear on MTV (or at least they used to!), and have this desire to be public figures, that when someone pulls away from that, especially after having achieved the level of fame he did (in the 1960's) it throws us off. Fans are greedy, we want and sometimes expect too much of an artist - so he recedes, and lets the music speak for itself.

3. "You started out in journalism. 30CM and Cinemania can be looked at as psychological pursuits in a way. What do you think?"

I don't really see it as psychological - I never want to be seen to be pathologising a subject - especially not with Cinemania -  I see film more in psychic terms,  whether its documentary or narrative, you still have to try and enter that psychic, creative space, where you try to see the actual spirit of the film, and then you try to adhere to it and give it form.  And on the other side of that is the craft, where it is more journalistic - documentary filmmaking has a long histories and many traditions, and I'm just still learning my way through that.  At the end of the day its about finding some sort of truth, and I look for an emotional truth that I hope reflects the subjects in a true way.


4. "Besides Walker, who would be the other vocalists working today that you feel are "pushing it" or really exploring something new and authentic? "

That's a hard one, because Walker isn't just a "vocalist", he is a musician, a composer, the soundworld is total.  I honestly can't think of one.  I'm more inclined to look at an artist, like, say, Anselm Kiefer- someone working in the visual arts, making conceptually rigorous and seriously imposing pieces that carry a weight of myth and history in them.  From Walker, I just spin off more into art like that.  It's hard for me to find other music to connect to it now. 


5.  "Is there any one subject that you would never personally investigate via film?"

Myself.  Filmmakers who turn the camera on themselves generally irritate the hell out of me.  I don't want to be that confronted by ego. 


6.  "Do you have any words of advice for student filmmakers that might be reading this interview?"

Yes. Celebrity lasts for a minute.  Art lasts for a lifetime.  Trends come and go, but it's the story, vision and craft that make for good filmmaking. 


7. " Lastly, I feel I should ask what is the largest misconception regarding making films today..."

That we make money doing it!


The IFC Center is located at 323 Avenue of the Americas, Manhattan.   30 Century Man shows daily through December 23rd only.  Stephen Kijak in attendance for the 7:40pm shows this Friday and Saturday.

Gangsters Lore and Legend Lives on at the Chelsea Hotel

      You don't mess with Rico, see.  Our fellow Chelsea Hotel resident and pro-Bard activist Arthur Nash has a new book due out soon, "American Gangster: An Illustrated History of the Mob," (Madison Press   Books, 2009).  The book features rare photos and gangster-related artifacts from Nash's personal archives that he assembled over 15 years.  For a preview, visit the Discovery Channel's website and see photos of Lucky Luciano, Joey Gallo playing with a dwarf two months before he was shot down, Abel Ferrara wearing Gallo's hat, piles of confiscated bootleg liquor, and Nash himself standing beside the barber chair where Albert Anastasia himself was assasinated.  Check it out today.  And buy a copy of Arthur's book when it comes out too, you dirty rat!

    

Huncke's Room Used to Launch Artist Elizabeth Peyton's Career

According to the New Yorker (Oct. 6) in 1993 artist Elizabeth Peyton had a show in room 828 of the Chelsea Hotel.  That was Herbert Huncke's old room -- in fact I thought he was living there then, but if that is correct the show must have taken place before he moved in.  Most recently the room was home to Elizabeth Pugh, who was unfortunately forced out by BD.  Now 828 is a transient room, since -- on a death-knell to Bohemia -- no new permanent residents are being admitted to the hotel.
    If I read the article correctly, Peyton wasn't actually living in 828 (maybe Huncke loaned it to her) but just displayed her paintings three, in the show that launched her career.
     Interested parties could ask for the key at the desk, and then go on up to the room themselves.  You'd better believe that nothing that cool and anarchic is goingn to be allowed here these days.  Bring Back the Bards!  -- Ed Hamilton  (Thanks to Judith Childs for the tip.)

Life of Arthur Weinstein Celebrated at Highbar

Friends and neighbors of the late Arthur Weinstein came together to celebrate his memory last Sunday on the Highbar roof. Read Steve Lewis' account of the event in Black Book.  Our esteemed proprietor Stanley Bard was among the Chelsea Hotel celebrities on hand to offer their tributes to Arthur.  As Lewis points out, the economic downturn may signal the return of style, and the relegation of yuppies to 2nd class status, in  clubland -- developments which I'm sure Arthur would applaud.
The video that was shown at the celebration is available on youtube.
 

CHING HO CHENG: A RETROSPECTIVE

Ching ho Cheng lived at the Chelsea Hotel during the 70s and counted many of its most fabulous and creative residents among his personal friends including: Henry Geldzahler, Larry Rivers, David Hockney, Vali Myers, Richard Bernstein, Charles James and Dee Dee Ramone. Shepherd Gallery is pleased to present Ching ho Cheng’s first retrospective and their third exhibit of his works. This retrospective features works from his psychedelic period in the late 60s to his gouache shadow pieces, torn abstractions, and alchemical works in the 70s and 80s. The opening reception for the exhibit is Thursday, Sept. 25, 6:00 – 8:00 p.m. The exhibit runs through November 15. The Shepherd Gallery is located at 58 East 79th Street, NY NY.  Click here for the invitation.

Ching’s sister Sybao is compiling a catalogue of Ching's work.  The book will feature the work of many of his friend such as Vali Myers, Mati Klarwein and Ira Cohen along with personal stories and photos.  If you have any photos or art work or personal stories to share please e-mail sybao@mindspring.com

Additionally, Man-lai and filmmaker Sam Bassett will use the opening reception as an opportunity to interview those who knew Ching ho Cheng.

(Photo: Ching ho Cheng in his Chelsea studio.)   

 

Thanks for Tipping Us

Rachel Cohen points us to an exhibit of Eugenie Gershoy's work which is on display through August 31st at the Fletcher Gallery located in Woodstock, New York. Gershoy is responsible for the fabulous "Pink Lady on a Swing" which hangs from the ceiling of the Chelsea Hotel lobby. (Photo: Sarah E. Dewar's flickr)   

The Pink Lady is by Renate Goebel. Eugie Gershoy's work is the papier maché portrait figures hanging above the telephone booths.

Judith Childs writes to tell us about a new song inspired by the hotel.  So, check it out!  Judith writes: "Billy Squire dreamed about the Hotel Chelsea for years and ever since I took him up to the roof some years ago to play his guitar atop the hallowed halls, he has returned, from New Zeland, to stay here, to play here and compose his dreams.  He just sent me a dvd of his new album which you can find by going to www.billysquire.net and then to Listen to Album.  "Chelsea Dreams" is seventh down the list."

Robert Shaw clues us in that a fellow Aussie stopped by the Chelsea. "Paul Capsis, a unique [to engage an over used word] Aus cabaret / theatre / singer performer has paid a visit to the famed Chelsea Hotel.  He's currently playing Riff Raff in a brilliant production of Rocky Horror here- a role way way beneath his capabilities.  Amongst Paul's talents he 'channels' dead divas including a remarkable Janis."

Cindy Gallop sends greetings along with a link to a piece in the Guardian featuring writer Joe O'Neill and family.

Got Tips: Send them to chelblog at yahoo dot com

Kyle and the DonJon Pranksters Stop by the Chelsea Hotel

In route from Nashville Tennessee to the DNC, former Chelsea Hotel resident Kyle Taylor brought his DonJon platform to the streets of Chelsea for a few hours yesterday.  Lots of people happily jumped on the bus for the Last Great American Road Trip. It remains to be seen if they'll make it to the DNC.  If you spot DonJon in your town send us some pics.

The Bus.
 

Vote for DonJon!

Robert Lambert may or may not be convinced that DonJon is the man.

Ed jumps/falls off of the back of the bus. (Nice photo Robert)

Bettina tagged the bus.

The bus pulls out with a message of hope!

King of the Chelsea: Storme DeLarverie to Be Honored

The Chelsea Hotel Grand Ballroom will be the scene of a grand evening of art in honor of legendary resident Storme DeLarverie. Stormé Delarverié is a  87-year-old former cross-dressing torch singer, gay rights activist and one of the sweetest people you’ll ever meet.  Here's how Storme told me her story.  “I’ve got a story!” Stormé exclaimed, “I chopped off my hair, put on men’s clothes, and joined the Jewel Box Review!”  The Jewel Box Review was a multi-racial drag revue that toured the country in the fifties, sixties and seventies.  The only female member of the troupe, Stormé served as stage manager, musical arranger, emcee and “mother” of the troupe for fourteen years.  (Portrait of Storme by Anthony Zito)

Chelsea Hotel artist Susan Olmetti, who organized the evening, along with other Chelsea Hotel residents and artists, is donating one of her vibrant whimsical paintings (5' x 5' acrylic on canvas), titled "Mr. Minkel", for sale at the art show with the proceeds to the non-profit Stonewall Veterans Association.   Another painting, a specially commissioned tribute portrait of Storme is by acclaimed artist Anthony Zito.  That intuitive painting is being presented as a gift to Storme. During the three-hour soiree, Zito will apply his artful mastery to paint his critically acclaimed 7-Minute Watercolor Portraits - a signature quick-draw style, of anyone who is willing. Portraits painted at the event will be available for sale that evening.  Works by photographers Lisa Ackerman and Sam Bassett will also be on display.  Music will be provided by Tsakwe Ibrahim.

Additionally, according to Ms. Olmetti, Stanley Bard will be presented with a portrait in appreciation of his support of the arts.  The portrait was painted by Steven Fisher.

Stop by the Chelsea Hotel Grand Ballroom from 6:00 p.m. - 9:00 p.m., Thursday, August 21. 
The Chelsea Hotel is located at 222 West 23rd Street.  The closest subway stops are the "1", "C", "E", "F" and "Q".  Times are symbolic from "6" to "9" p.m. as in Stonewall '69.  On display (shown below with Storme) will be the 1969 "Stonewall Car".  To r.s.v.p., please telephone Storme's "Baby Boi" AnDre Christie at (212) 627-1969.  Beverages will be provided by Drink Purple.

Stefan Brecht & Legends Contribute to Ph.D Thesis

The rewards of blogging are few and insubstantial.  So it's satisfying when we get feedback like this.

Dear Ed

Just a quick note to say I've just finished reading your book about the Chelsea and really enjoyed it! I also read Joe Ambrose's tome and that was enjoyable too.

On my first visit to the US in 1997 I visited the Chelsea but couldn't afford to stay. Me and my travelling companion were on a really tight budget. We did however, get to stay in the apartment building on Bleeker Street that Gregory Corso was born in, which was a thrill.

I've just got my PhD and part of my thesis was about the Flaneur. I mention Stefan Brecht's 8th Avenue poems (which are fantastic) and argue that Brecht was practicing Flanerie when walking to the Chelsea and his writing room. So thanks for pointing me in the right direction (I read about Brecht on your blog!)

Hope things are going OK at the Chelsea. Who knows? I may get to stay there one day...

kind regards

Andrew Taylor

I wrote about Stefan Brecht's dual poetry and photography book for this blog and for Chelsea Now and The Villager back in April 2007.   I was quite excited by Brecht's project, and it seems at least one corner of academe was as well.  (Photo: from Stefan Brecht's book, "8th Avenue".)

Dainty Adore at The Coney Island Mermaid Parade

The end of summer is quickly approaching and the future of the Chelsea Hotel and Coney Island are still uncertain.  Former Chelsea Hotel resident Dainty Adore  takes us back in time to the Fourth Annual Mermaid Day Parade.   After Danity performs her quirky set she provides a tour of the boardwalk and amusement park.

(Video by Nelson Sullivan)

Golf, Sport of the Suburbs, Supplants Art at the Chelsea

Reverend Jen, who has an open mike reading series on Ludlow Street and runs a trolll museum, is a crusader against the gentrification—and the stupification--of the Lower East Side.  I remember reading in Rverend Jen’s book (Really Cool Neighborhood, Printed Matter Inc., 2003) awhile back about how for her the final straw was when she saw somebody go into her building carrying golf clubs.  When she witnessed this abomination it actually caused her to vomit.

Well, I saw somebody check into the Chelsea with some golf clubs the other day, and that’s about how I felt too.  He had come from Florida to play golf in Manhattan. The Chelsea was able to hang on a few years longer than that larger and even more essential bastion of Bohemianism, the LES, but the end result is shaping up to be even more sickening.

Now, I don’t know where the best place in the country to play golf is, no doubt in some suburb somewhere, but I do know the absolute worst place: Manhattan !  What the hell was this guy doing, hitting balls off the roof?!  This is the kind of guests we have to get used to now, with the new management.  (And lately, these clueless assholes have had the gall to complain about us!  Increasingly, we’re being treated like second class citizens in our own home.) 

Let’s get something straight golfers: you’ve got the burbs, which you created in your image; isn’t that enough?  Don’t you get it?  We came here to get away from you.  We’re even willing to pay for your cut-rate mortgages that you can’t afford!  Please, we beg of you, just go back!

Anyway, Reverend Jen, with things even worse on the LES now than when you wrote your book five years ago, I hope you’re able to keep down the occasional Budweiser and slice of pizza. -- Ed Hamilton

Opening Reception "Herbert Gentry & Friends"

"In his painting, {Herbert} Gentry interpreted inner and outer worlds, defining human experience with metaphors of confrontations, meetings, interactions, and participations.  Many of Gentry's titles refer to Friends and Friendship, Encounters and Relations, Reciprocity and Relatedness...." (excerpted from the program written by Mary Anne Rose)

HERBERT GENTRY and FRIENDS: Opening Reception
Friday, July 18, 2008 6:00 - 8:00 p.m.
Showing through August 30, 2008 

Parish Gallery
1054 31st Street, NW
Washington, DC

Arthur Weinstein RIP

Arthur Weinstein's many friends have thoughtfully added their "Arthur" stories to a growing online tribute.
The stories, filled with both humor and sadness, touch on three main themes: how Arthur was an unforgettable New York character, a brilliant night club operator, and, more importantly, a loving family man. 

In their obituary this week the New York Times had this to say about Arthur.

" In the glittery, manic, often ostentatiously naughty 1970s and ’80s, Arthur Weinstein was king of the night. His kingdom was a new breed of nightclubs that transcended disco balls, tired formulas and strobe lights to become ultrahip destinations for those deemed worthy of entering..." 

The obituary also quotes hotelier and former night club operator Ian Schrager who had this to say. "(Schrager) who operated Studio 54 with Steven Rubell, placed Mr. Weinstein and his clubs on a continuum of New York night life that extends back through the Stork Club and the Cotton Club.

“Arthur is part of that,” said Mr. Schrager, who now develops hotels and other properties. “He would be one of the important people around that world that you would have to talk about.”

Mr. Schrager praised Hurrah as the first ’70s nightclub with style, meaning that it wasn’t “merely painted black.” He continued, “It was the first one that upped the stakes a bit.”

Other tributes:

Former night club owner Steve Lewis' tribute will have you in tears before you finish reading. 

Tony Fletcher reports that he modeled one of the characters in his novel about nightclub culture (Hedonism) on Arthur. 

Lots of great photos, including one from the 1970s, on this Arthur Weinstein Myspace tribute page. 

Beauty Bar, Good Night Mr. Lewis

Luke Jorger & Indigo Toledo's Chelsea Movie features an interview with Arthur and other residents.

Remembering Arthur Weinstein

UPDATE:  Blog BrooklynVegan has posted a very nice tribute to Arthur.

Yesterday (7/9/08) the Chelsea Hotel lost a dear friend in Arthur Weinstein.  In keeping with tradition, his life and artistry will be celebrated today, Thursday July 10, at noon at the Temple just to the west of the Chelsea Hotel.  Please join his family and friends to remember Arthur. 

Expressions of sympathy can be left for his family courtesy of Room #210.

(Photo: Arthur in his studio, Jan 2007)

In “Bettina” Filmmaker Sam Bassett and Artist Bettina Restore Order to the Chelsea: (And Not a Moment Too Soon)

The film opens with the a shot of the roof of the Chelsea, tracking into Sam’s studio—for better or worse he has stripped all traces of Norman Gosney’s decadent boudoir décor from the space--juxtaposed with a shot of Bettina sitting in her familiar place outside her room.  To the accompaniment of eerily mystical drumming, we see various haunting shots of Bettina: picking up leaves by the railroad trestle, riding the ferry past the Statue of Liberty, and reading her poetry on a moving walkway.  What’s the story behind this tiny, unobtrusive elderly lady, slowly pushing her cart down the chaotic streets as the unseeing juggernaut of New York rushes madly by her?  Does she even have one?

Indeed she does.  The film, titled simply “Bettina” is a story mostly about the enigmatic Bettina, but about the tall, bearded filmmaker Sam Bassett as well: it chronicles several months in their lives as each seeks the aid of the other in restoring a sort of rhyme and reason to a life and a corner of the city that has fallen seriously out of kilter.  Sam sets out to restore Bettina to her proper place in the world—the art world that has neglected her genius, and the world of the present day that seems to have moved on and left her behind.  Bettina’s struggle is spiritual and almost cosmological in scope: through her art she seeks to reveal the Noumenon, or the invisible secret essence of things, and thus to lead the people of this world out of confusion into order.  (Bettina would no doubt like me to mention, for the record, that poet Ira Cohen knows nothing of this.)  For both individuals, who bond in the intuitive understanding of this arcane ideal, the quest resolves itself into the more mundane physical goal of cleaning-up and setting Bettina’s cluttered apartment/studio aright so she can display her art and re-establish her Noumenonological Institute.

            It’s not easy.  It takes Sam awhile to earn Bettina’s trust and to gain admission into the inner sanctum of her studio; and Bettina, for her part, can’t quite see how rearranging all her boxes and putting her papers into storage is actually going to help achieve order.  It seems to her that her the boxes and stacks of papers piled to the ceiling are already where they should be and now Sam is simply messing them up.  “I may never be able to have the same order again,” she says.  But Bettina is convinced by the end result: Sam builds shelves and hangs her paintings, and together they transform the large space into a museum showcasing Bettina’s huge and varied body of sculpture, drawings, and photography.

            Highlights of the film include: the death-defying Sam riding his skateboard down the middle of 23^rd street pushing a shopping cart loaded with supplies, Sam and Bettina filming each other across 6^th Avenue as a Marathon race takes place on the street between them, and the highly comical footage of Sam lifting Bettina in his arms and running her up a hill at Storm King Japanese Sculpture Garden.

            As we battle the money-grubbing minority shareholders who ousted Stanley and seized control of our beloved Chelsea, it’s rewarding to step back for a moment and consider exactly what it is we’re fighting for—the hidden essence or Noumenon at the core of the Chelsea Hotel.  And if that essence doesn’t involve Bettina and the dozens of others misunderstood artists like her hiding away here at the hotel, then I don’t know what else it could involve.  At the time of the film’s events Bettina was being subjected to court hearings in which the minority shareholders and their hired guns at BD were seeking to evict her for clutter.  Well, thanks to Sam—who through his work has revealed a small part of the order underlying what some may dismiss as anarchy—these sociopathic pirates now have absolutely no hope of implementing their unconscionable plan.-- Ed Hamilton