┐ Lauren E. Simonutti └

© Lauren E. Simonutti, Manny and Josephine, 1999

Lauren passed away this April. An homage would be irrelevant compared to what she set off to uncover and offers us. Thank you for the enlightenment! A must see, hear and feel that reminds me of David Nebreda’s work, more than anything else due to the relation the author establishes with the work.

Madness strips things down to their core. It takes everything and in exchange offers only more madness, and the occasional ability to see things that are not there….The problem with madness is that you can feel it coming but when you tell people you think you are going crazy they do not believe you. It is too distant a concept. Too melodramatic. You don’t believe it yourself until you have fallen so quickly and so far that your fingernails are the only thing holding you up, balanced with your feet dangling on either side of a narrow fence with your heart and mind directly over center, so that when you do fall it will split you in two. And split equally. So there’s not even a stronger side left to win…..Over three and one half years I have spent alone amidst these 8 rooms, 7 mirrors, 6 clocks, 2 minds and 199 panes of glass. And this is what I saw here. This is what I learned.

Lauren’s statement

More of Lauren’s work at Catherine Edelman Gallery

┐ Prinzhorn Dance School └

@Gabriel Green

All their videos very much worth seeing!

They named themselves after Dr Hans Prinzhorn, a German psychiatrist whose book, Artistry of the Mentally Ill, led to the coining of the phrase Art Brut. After positive feedback from friends, they mailed CDs to five labels, all of whom, they say, wanted to sign them. Not everybody has given them such a warm reception. “Some bands have slagged us off in the press,” snorts Prinz, adding: “If we come backstage at one of your gigs and smack you in the face, you haven’t really got any cause to complain.” Horn concurs. “We don’t go looking for fights but we can look after ourselves.”