By Chris Moukarbel
This article refers to the P.S.1 exhibition Kenneth Anger
Chris Mourkarbel was a young art school
student when he first saw Kenneth Anger’s
work. The following memory recounts his
first encounter with the artist and the impact
Anger’s work has had on his own career as
an artist.
Like so many art students, I became familiar
with Kenneth Anger through sketchy bootlegs
of his most well-known films: Scorpio Rising,
Puce Moment, etc. These early films completely
changed how I looked at art history and pop culture.
It was stunning to realize his direct influence
over so much of the art and media that I loved,
even anticipating the music video. I wondered how
someone’s body of work could be so seminal to
twentieth century art yet barely represented within
its institutions.
Years later I had the opportunity to meet
Kenneth Anger when we invited him to lecture
in our grad program. We picked him up from his
New York City hotel in a luxury sedan rented on
the school’s dime. As I drove down the interstate,
my friend was in the backseat sheepishly trying
to engage Kenneth in some lascivious conversation.
We knew that he was a relentless Hollywood
gossip long before reality shows cashed out the
appeal of unfortunate celebrities.
Kenneth didn’t disappoint. During his film
screening, Anger never spared the details or titillating
background. He shared some of the truly
magical and serendipitous moments that helped
shape these brilliant works—an actual visit from
alien beings is accidentally captured in the film
Lucifer Rising; slacker Jimmy Page is fired, opening
the door for genius/composer/convict Bobby
Beausoleil. He also dished on a number of betrayers
in his life, some of which were served with
an Anger curse. It became apparent to me that
his films were simply a residue of his life and the
man was bigger than the canon. More importantly
Anger is still creating worlds, casting spells and
taking names.