MARK MOTHERSBAUGH – APOTROPAIC BEATNIK GRAFFITI
BLANK INDUSTRIES
BOOK REVIEW BY AARON BADGLEY
Mark Mothersbaugh’s latest book, Apotropaic Beatnik Graffiti, is subtitled “A Collection of Neo-Dada Stream of Conscious Visual Poetry”, which pretty much sums up this rather unusual book. This is not a memoir, this is not a novel, this is abstract art, using visual and written media. It is an art book which is beautifully executed. This book has allowed Mothersbaugh to explore lifelong fascinations with graffiti art and beat poetry from the late 1950s and early 1960s.
Mothersbaugh, very kindly, provides definitions of each word of the title (for example, ‘Apotropaic’ is defined as designed to avert evil’), which helps set the context of the following pages. In the introduction Mothersbaugh explains the basis of the book and the idea of stream of consciousness writing and thinking. There are also notes about Mothersbaugh’s ‘all-seeing eye’. It is interesting to read that Mothersbaugh was born legally blind and it was not until age seven that he was actually prescribed corrective lenses. So, his fascination with ‘eye’ makes total sense.
In fact, the book is hundreds of pages of the all-seeing eye and notes around the eye. It starts with a short story titled “The Hungry Eye”, which fits the whole book perfectly. Mothersbaugh tells the story well, and it features some of his trademark humour. In fact, there is an element of humour throughout the book. It is serious art, but it is serious art with humorous moments, including instructions on how to read the book.
Each page is the eye with graffiti written around it. “How did we get here?” Each eye has drawings and written text, but again, it is all done in the style of graffiti. There is a lot to read and it is not a book that one skims. It is lengthy but it is never boring. In some ways it brings to mind Yoko Ono’s book, Grapefruit, although that was more instructions, whereas this is more stream of consciousness writing.
There is a lot to absorb and there are more than a few tips of the hat to Devo. One page features lyrics and the song title “Uncontrollable Urge”. There is also some whimsy and some social commentary throughout. Again, with over 500 pages, there is a lot to take in. It is the type of book that one will return to over and over and find something new each and every time.
Mothersbaugh is a talented artist. His music with Devo, his solo albums, his soundtracks, and all points in between are original and helped him build a catalogue of music in which he should be very proud. Devo alone earns him a special place in heaven. Like his previous books, this is not a standard novel or memoir. Rather, it is an art piece. One could easily imagine a number of these pictures displayed in a museum or gallery. As he has done with music, Mothersbaugh has changed the goalposts for books and has produced an incredible book that fans of Devo and art will not enjoy but appreciate.
ISBN: 978-0-64869-491-7
PURCHASE APOTROPAIC BEATNIK GRAFFITI VIA BLANK INDUSTRIES HERE
