Keep trying, Hamilton. You keep posting the same basic riff over and over, hoping that if you repeat it enough we will all agree with you that the guy was an artistic visionary whose legacy will live on for generations. I don't buy it and can't figure out why you are beating this dead...uh...horse. PS: I have lost friends to heroin so I avoid romanticizing it as essential fuel for the sensitive artiste.
@Carol Gardens: This. Well, a somewhat kinder version of this. Nothing in this post is a revelation; it's exactly the conversation we had on the last three posts about this guy. (Who, in Julia Allison fashion, I have never heard of outside of this site.) If this dichotomy is news, then the Gawker commenters, are the newsmakers. What I can't figure out is how so many people still have something to say on the subject, especially since it's just the same two opinions over and over again.
"WE rebel against a culture that worships the Jonas Brothers or Will Smith or Amerikkka or Money - but as long as we worship being hardcore, we're going to see smack as the ultimate in hardcore, and WE are going to keep testing it, getting addicted, and dying."
Uh, that's your problem right there-- worshipping shit. That's not hardcore. I guess opium is the religion of the hardcore? Stupid.
Was he an authentic artist with a tortured soul, or a selfish jerk with incredibly wealthy patronage who left his daughter fatherless?
you can't forget the bold part. it's arguable, but plenty of folks live a life like dash snow, they just didn't have the financial backing he had, ergo they just aren't as important.
"lived life fully" is kind of at odds with shooting smack, inevitably at the expense of your child, whether you ultimately od or not
i don't know the guy, and i am not impressed with the so-called art; but i'm not much concerned with either
what is of concern, and the blognigger post nailed it, is the romanticization of strung out drug addiction that is always stupid and often fatal
responsibility might be boring, but it's necessary to the extent that one becomes a self supporting adult, present to those around you to whom you have obligations
i'm at the point in life where i have about zero patience with those who don't meet those minimum requirements
it's sad that the dood died, as it's sad when any common addict throws their life away
whether it's more or less sad for artists or anyone else is pretty much meaningless to me
@if_i_only_had_a_heart: Hard to be a self-supporting adult when your super-wealthy family keeps throwing that damn money at you, and gallery owners currying favor with Grandma throw shows at you.
@if_i_only_had_a_heart: also, maybe it's the economy or the generation, but i sense a lot more across the board rejection than buying into of the, well, pose; and that is a generational shift for sure. it used to be much cooler than it is now to die young. now i think far fewer non rich buy into the notion of rejecting the comforts and trappings of being rich; the bigger concern is how to pay the fucking rent and maybe have health insurance; screw the romantic doomed artist trope
I don't want to judge the person or his art, but I am struck by how he was a product of the incestuous art world.
His grandmother is probably the most prominent supporter of art in America. Gallery owners wishing to gain favor with her would certainly give the kid a show. Saatchi buys some of his pieces. They are included in biennale show. The value of his work rises until the insiders decide to sell.
If it was Wall Street, everyone would be up in arms. But since the only victim is the noveau riche who bought late, no one complains. If they're smart, they'll donate some money to a museum for retrospective show and then they'll sell.
Here’s my personal take on being a man:
Women seem to understand things change but the spirit of who you are doesn’t change. Women accept change since—when you think about it—women transform more over the course of their lives than men do. I hope this comes off well, but I think menses, childbirth and simply growing breasts/hips will change you are make you think about the world differently. Men get facial hair and that's about it.
So to me, the moment you become a father of a child is a transformative moment in a man’s life... That is if that man actually has a soul and can view a larger world than themselves.
It doesn’t seem that Dash was affected by being a father in the least. And that is terrifying. I’m old enough to have actually had more than a few guy friends who similarly didn’t get it when their child was born. These guys actually become denser, and more selfish and you can practically map the divorce coming.
So that’s all to say is if you are a married to a guy who won’t grow up and change when they have a kid, start figuring out when to cut him off. It won’t get better and personally it will be better to get the deadbeat guy out of your life before the kid turns 8. Nothing has made me more attuned to feminism than watching man-children destroy their own families via their idiocy.
And Dash Snow clearly cared nothing about anyone but himself. I knew of his work tangentially but he never seemed to make a real impact outside of the NYC artworld. I’m at a loss to understand his canonization now after his death. At least Kurt Cobain has a true audience. This guy was just a slumming hipster junkie. If you miss him, get some self-esteem.
@SpyMagician: I think that your point about women and men and change is really interesting and true. It seems kind of obvious but I can't recall ever seeing it described so straightforwardly before, so...cool.
@SpyMagician: And at least Cobain wrote some intricate, sensitive songs as well as the ragers. Cobain also had humility and compassion and a dark humor too. He really was an artist, I think. It's ridonk to compare Snow to him, night and day.
But I appreciate your thoughtful comments about fatherhood and "becoming' a man. It's true, that transformation I've seen in my friends when they become fathers. They see life anew. You've expressed this well.
@Baroness: They are both had kids who are now fatherless because their fathers had addictions and they chose death (their addictions) over life (being a father to their children).
Yet another reason to value a working class background -- behaving like a self-serving tool is kind of difficult when one has to pay the rent and was raised to take pride in doing so.
And glamourizing squalor and drug addiction is just so trustfundarian...
"Dash Snow—whether you liked his art or not—lived life fully, which should be appreciated, though not emulated in its specifics." Please define, in the case of Mr. Snow, "lived life fully."
From a technical standpoint, his work (that I've seen) is shit. It's lazy... provocative, but lazy.
I'd say he's more of a performance artist than one who mastered the traditional mediums.
If I produced the same artwork, I can guarantee nobody would be talking about me, heroin overdose or not.
@robotwaste: Non-connected-rich-white-jeans-wearing artists can be fetishized too for being outsidery or 'naive' or whatever else a curator or dealer or art insider decides is 'fascinating.' But you'd need a better hook than coke and bombing. Mental illness and faux-anonymity are both tried and true methods.
Dash Snow—whether you liked his art or not—lived life fully
Call me crazy, but choosing to be a present father seems more about living life fully - and shooting up is the ultimate in being alone and cutting that life in half. Or in thirds.
Anyhow, it's too bad Val Kilmer is in no shape to play him in the inevitable biopic.
07/22/09
07/22/09
07/22/09
07/22/09
Finally, I found somebody who deserves to be kidnapped by Al-Qaeda to have his head sawed off with a bread knife for a YouTube clip.
07/22/09
07/22/09
07/22/09
Uh, that's your problem right there-- worshipping shit. That's not hardcore. I guess opium is the religion of the hardcore? Stupid.
07/22/09
you can't forget the bold part. it's arguable, but plenty of folks live a life like dash snow, they just didn't have the financial backing he had, ergo they just aren't as important.
07/22/09
07/22/09
"lived life fully" is kind of at odds with shooting smack, inevitably at the expense of your child, whether you ultimately od or not
i don't know the guy, and i am not impressed with the so-called art; but i'm not much concerned with either
what is of concern, and the blognigger post nailed it, is the romanticization of strung out drug addiction that is always stupid and often fatal
responsibility might be boring, but it's necessary to the extent that one becomes a self supporting adult, present to those around you to whom you have obligations
i'm at the point in life where i have about zero patience with those who don't meet those minimum requirements
it's sad that the dood died, as it's sad when any common addict throws their life away
whether it's more or less sad for artists or anyone else is pretty much meaningless to me
07/22/09
07/22/09
when i was younger and dumber i thought the drunk writers were romantic. i got over it.
07/22/09
07/22/09
His grandmother is probably the most prominent supporter of art in America. Gallery owners wishing to gain favor with her would certainly give the kid a show. Saatchi buys some of his pieces. They are included in biennale show. The value of his work rises until the insiders decide to sell.
If it was Wall Street, everyone would be up in arms. But since the only victim is the noveau riche who bought late, no one complains. If they're smart, they'll donate some money to a museum for retrospective show and then they'll sell.
07/22/09
07/22/09
07/22/09
07/22/09
07/22/09
07/22/09
07/22/09
Women seem to understand things change but the spirit of who you are doesn’t change. Women accept change since—when you think about it—women transform more over the course of their lives than men do. I hope this comes off well, but I think menses, childbirth and simply growing breasts/hips will change you are make you think about the world differently. Men get facial hair and that's about it.
So to me, the moment you become a father of a child is a transformative moment in a man’s life... That is if that man actually has a soul and can view a larger world than themselves.
It doesn’t seem that Dash was affected by being a father in the least. And that is terrifying. I’m old enough to have actually had more than a few guy friends who similarly didn’t get it when their child was born. These guys actually become denser, and more selfish and you can practically map the divorce coming.
So that’s all to say is if you are a married to a guy who won’t grow up and change when they have a kid, start figuring out when to cut him off. It won’t get better and personally it will be better to get the deadbeat guy out of your life before the kid turns 8. Nothing has made me more attuned to feminism than watching man-children destroy their own families via their idiocy.
And Dash Snow clearly cared nothing about anyone but himself. I knew of his work tangentially but he never seemed to make a real impact outside of the NYC artworld. I’m at a loss to understand his canonization now after his death. At least Kurt Cobain has a true audience. This guy was just a slumming hipster junkie. If you miss him, get some self-esteem.
07/22/09
07/22/09
07/22/09
07/22/09
But I appreciate your thoughtful comments about fatherhood and "becoming' a man. It's true, that transformation I've seen in my friends when they become fathers. They see life anew. You've expressed this well.
07/22/09
07/22/09
And glamourizing squalor and drug addiction is just so trustfundarian...
07/22/09
07/22/09
07/22/09
I'd say he's more of a performance artist than one who mastered the traditional mediums.
If I produced the same artwork, I can guarantee nobody would be talking about me, heroin overdose or not.
07/22/09
07/22/09
07/22/09
Call me crazy, but choosing to be a present father seems more about living life fully - and shooting up is the ultimate in being alone and cutting that life in half. Or in thirds.
Anyhow, it's too bad Val Kilmer is in no shape to play him in the inevitable biopic.