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Genesis P-Orridge, from psychick youth to pandrogeny

Genesis P-Orridge and Lady Jaye (Jacqueline Brayer) Neural 39 > p.21 > e-music > Genesis P-Orridge, from psychick youth to pandrogeny

Genesis with the Throbbing Gristle uniform Thee Temple ov Psychick Youth symbology

@Prostitution, pornography, crime, occultism: from the beginning these were the controversial topics which Neil Andrew Megson used to outline the plots of his first performance and recording productions, after changing his name to the now better-known Genesis POrridge. In 1971 - before everyone else - the "prophet" of the future "psychic youth" was already weaving a correspondence with William Burroughs, concerned with the "esoteric" conjunctions of Brion Gysin, the investigator who first theorized a purified cut'n'paste from the surrealist tradition, mixed with new scientism and permutational drives, calligraphy, visuals and sound. The artistic passions of this multifaceted Mancunian were already well outlined in the decade that began in the late sixties and ended ideally in 1979 with "20 Jazz Funk Greats", the successful third album made with his old band Throbbing Gristle. The incisive overflowing attitude of the music ignores certain historical avant-garde styles but there is also an "alternative" activism at play here – one typical of the "psychedelic" Anglo-Saxon approach, that modulates itself by updating some practices of the American countercultural movements (for example Merry Pranksters, radical hippie collective and postBeat Generation). Genesis P-Orridge worked with the first rave organizers and gave sap to the acid-house scene. Experimenting with multiple influences and creating a real organization, he formed a sort of worshipping fan club: the Thee Temple of Psychick Youth, aka TOPY. In

1986 his band began publishing a monthly series of live albums, stopping at 17 of the 23 announced. The tenth, a picture disk most commonly referred to as "album 10" could only be obtained by submitting tokens contained in each of the previous nine versions. Thanks to the contribution of other techno activists (Fred Giannelli, Dave Ball, Richard Norris, John Gosling, Richard Evans), in the years 1988 to 1992, Genesis P-Orridge created some non-existent bands, conveying the idea that Britain was active in its wide-electronic subcultural dance scene. In the artistic career of Genesis P-Orridge explorations around the concept of "pandrogeny" (and the so-called neo-tribal scene) are frequently seen. This concept means consciously taking elements from various sexual orientations, religions, ethnic and cultural traditions, up to the point of making the original identity of the person rather indecipherable. These explorations culminate - in this case - in the association with Lady Jaye (Jacqueline Breyer). The relationship began in 1990 and saw the pair consciously deconstructing their identities as they tried to resemble one another as much as possible, tending towards the creation-incarnation of a new single gender-neutral character. This was accomplished by using plastic surgery, hormone treatments, and other methods for converging behavior. "The modern androgynous, only seeking its self-realization, loses the energy of opposition and conflict," said Camille Paglia in "Sexual Personae", although now the new "gender neutral" seems more inspired by the physical changes of Orlan than by the exaltation of a "human likeness" no longer excited but "in love" and quietist. The dream of integrating two bodies broke up sadly with the death of Lady Jaye, who died from a heart attack in 2007. "Some people feel like a man trapped in a woman's body, others as a woman trapped in a man's body. We thought, however: I feel trapped in a body." Here the bare notion of human identity is being brought into question. If the "skin tricks", in the recent appearances of the nomadic investigator - now Genesis Breyer P-Orridge – are becoming ever more realistic, then the real and the apparent co-exist against any misleading ordinary language, persevering in the pleasure of the inadequate and perverse. In the transition from one appearance to another, without ever defining clear borders, the transmutations affect with the strength of a scalpel the stereotypical and "light" appearances of our times. > Aurelio Cianciotta ——————————————————— ——————————————————— ——————————————————— ——————————————————— ——————————————————— ——————————————————— ——————————————————— ——————————————————— ——————————————————— ——————————————————— ——————————————————— ——————————————————— ———————————————————