Kim Gordon: The way I see it
 

Kim Gordon: The way I see it


Published 30 April 2009
The musician on Yves Klein, equal pay for women and censoring junk TV

Does art make a difference?
It makes a difference to the quality of life we live. Art’s main strength is its ability to reflect what’s going on. It didn’t start the French Revolution, but it was a witness.

Should politics and art mix?
I think that art should be disruptive and make people think about their lives. Are Sonic Youth [my band] political? Well, they are, in that they offer an alternative to mainstream music.

Is your work for the many or for the few?
I don’t think it is for everybody but I don’t think art or music should be – that’s why TV was invented.

Which artist do you most admire?
I really admire Yves Klein, because he wasn’t simply an artist. He was an experimenter, he had kooky ideas and he forced Parisian society to change. I particularly like the fact that he referred to himself as “the sacred trickster”.

Which artist do you least admire?
Damien Hirst. His work is almost like Las Vegas entertainment. It also makes fun of his audience in a grotesque way; in this sense he’s mean-spirited. He doesn’t add anything to the dialogue of art or the community.

Which product, if any, would you advertise?
I really can’t think of one.

If you weren’t a musician, what would you be?
A film-maker or a dancer. I could have been a cook, a thief, or even a candlestick-maker.

If you were world leader, what would be your first law?
My first law would be to give women equal pay. I’d essentially try to let women do whatever they wanted to do.

Who would be your top advisers?
Barack and Michelle Obama. I wholly support Obama. I mean, it’s been a pretty fucking hot first 100 days in house. He inherited such a mess yet he seems like he’s having a lot of fun. He’s already opened dialogue with Iran and Cuba. It’s all pretty obvious stuff, in a way, but it takes guts to stick to the liberal agenda.

What would you censor?
First, I’d ask other people what they think should be censored. Though, if I could personally censor things, then I’d target things that caused violence to other people. But it’s hard to draw the line. I’d also censor junk TV.

Who would you banish?
I’d banish Karl Rove, Bush’s strategist, for his part in engineering Bush’s election campaign.

What are the rules that you live by?
My main rule is that I try not to make people wait for me; I don’t like to be late, I really hate that. Also, I don’t like to do anything that I don’t feel good about doing.

What would you like your legacy to be?
I guess I’d like to be remembered as a sacred trickster! I certainly don’t want to be known as the bass player of Sonic Youth.

Do you love your country?
Yes, of course, it’s the only country I have. But I’m not a big flag flyer.

Are we all doomed?
No. Doomed is such a negative word.

Sonic Youth’s 16th album, “The Eternal”, is released on 8 June by Matador Records

Cool interview. That bit about not wanting to be remembered just as the bass player for SY makes me think about Bruce Campbell. And how he always says he doesn't want to be remembered just as the Evil Dead guy. That's gotta be tough for Kim. That'd be tough to seperate from. Good interview.

If you were world leader, what would be your first law?
My first law would be to give women equal pay. I’d essentially try to let women do whatever they wanted to do.

sexual politics...yawn

I think hating Damien Hirst is an American thing. I'm indifferent. Do any Brits hate him?

I think you'll find there's a difference between "hate" and "least admire".

Kim's great. Thanks Moshe.

Thanks Moshe as usual!
Go Kim!

Yes.

yeah, he's a bit of a nob end (hirst), all the YBAs are, aside from maybe the chapmans

Damien Hirst
 

Like much of Brit Art he seems to be a 'look at me making art' kind of artist rather than a creator of art. Also the whole 'value of art' thing he ran with for a while just seems rather gauche now.

Having said that that Skull action painting thing he's just done looks lovely.
I think Kim's on the money with the 'mean-spirited' comment. Very interesting observation.

If you were world leader, what would be your first law?
My first law would be to give women equal pay. I’d essentially try to let women do whatever they wanted to do.

- To me this thing is not as easy as it seems. Yes of course: In the first lane it sounds right to give men and women equal pay. But in my opinion we have to create fair rights for all human. That means that there are several natural conditioned varietes between men and women.
F.E Employers still have the right to take a free choice between a man and a women and often the choice is made to the benefit of men because they are not the one who give birth to children.

In this case women are the losers when they are treated the same way men are. So if you want to treat all human fair you have to enact laws that considers everyone the way she is.

Excuse my bad english. Just don´t get me wrong! In my opinion it´s not a matter of equal treatment... it´s about fairness and about accepting the natural differences.

I think she was speaking in very broad terms on purpose.

I don't know. That's just how it struck me.

chauvinism, lovely.

this has nothing to do with chauvinism. it´s meant completley different. i don´t declare giving birth to children as a detriment. it´s a fact. and in term of this often women are still not treated fair. when we treat everyone the same (same rights for everyone) it will lead to unfairness. you get what i mean?

and i´m talking about a distance of nine months in the life of a "woman". i think a big part of what what´s our definition of the biological gender is an utopia. it´s interesting to read what artists like genesis p-orrdige have written about this. BUT when treat people with so called dissabilities or pregnant "woman" the same way and with the same claim some of them won´t be able to handle that.

or "hate" and "indifference"

What would you like your legacy to be?
I guess I’d like to be remembered as a sacred trickster! I certainly don’t want to be known as the bass player of Sonic Youth.



...

i was refering more to ranaldo necro

Just because you are not into sexual politics does not mean that you are
chauvinist.

Who is not respecting equality now?

I've always been in love with her. I'm in awe, now. She leaves me speechless, this new record proves that Sonic Youth would never be capable of being the way they are without her. Kim Gordon is a goddess.

The one thing I disagree w/ Kim is this, she is opposed to mainstream, which I fully agree w/, but yet she supports Obama. When he is the most mainstream, Madison Ave. produced President in history. He's one giant PR stunt.

That goes against everything anti-establishment, & anti-mainstream.


I do love this response though.

I think Politics is different because there are only two choices. I am sure there is wild variation on issues in the Democratic and Republican camps.

What I find annoying about her feminist issues (and most feminisim) is that it seems she can't distinguish between men who are privileged...

Most feminists seem to only attack the rich, wealthy guys with power.
Not that 98% who aren't. They don't seem to bother with us...

There is always a third choice, or even fourth choice. Vote for an Independent party (Libertarians, Green Party). You don't always have to settle for a certain candidate if it's obvious to someone that they are out for more power than to change things for the betterment of the general public.

Or, just don't vote. Which is what I did.

yeah, like there would be not any nonpolitical, independent educated and qualified people into that matter. Democrat, Republican, Independent it's all same these days, no? maybe Republicans are less evil, but either them or Republicans, always having in view concerns of certain groups behind it all on the first place. I'm surprised she mentioned O. I didn't like Bush either and it must be much better atmosphere not having him around, but if it is going to change something. I think JFK was last real president......I don't know....hope I'm wrong and he'll actually change things towards better times....we'll see. I think that Obama's Deception documentary had a big impact on me, hahaha. after seeing it I'm skeptical him being a good adviser. hope I'm wrong and it is all conspiracy theories.

nice interview.

cheers Moshe!

she isn't opposed to mainstream...
...she told "we are an alternative to mainstream" ...She enjoy many mainstream things...

Thank you so much! Great interview. I admire Kim's ability to express her thoughts, she's great.

Maybe Canadian too... I was ambivalent to him until he tried to sue that teenage kid who appropriated the skull into a collage he was working on - that's just a screwjob. Forced the kid to pay back £200-300 - like it mattered to Hirst... thankfully some other artists took up the cause to raise the money and help the kid out... but it was a brutal story... so petty.

Like much of Brit Art he seems to be a 'look at me making art' kind of artist rather than a creator of art.

I would agree with this statement. It is like someone gives them the nod and they start to act arty. It is just a token cover up to guise their Englishness...

Damien Hirst could also get to a point of little or no censorship in his creations. Acting the role of artist might certainly bring out some great art. In fact it is probably half the battle...