ISHMAEL HOUSTON-JONES

Writer, curator, performer, Coordinator: the Lambent Fellowship in the Arts

FAQ

BIRTH DATE / BIRTHPLACE: 8 June 1951, Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, USA	1958
HONOR: Shared Bessie Award with Fred Holland in 1984.	*"STARS" from "Knife/Tape/Rope" with Jonathan Walker*
PIVOTAL PERFORMANCE: Toss up: Х 1."Cowboys, Dreams and Ladders" my favorite collaboration with Fred Holland, I got to ride a horse, meet a real cowboy in the Bronx and share half the Bessie Award check with Fred. Х 2. "THEM" an intense piece. My first collaboration with Dennis Cooper and Chris Cochrane. Got to dance with a dead goat. Х 3. "f/i/s/s/i/o/n/i/n/g" a solo that really synthesized my art and my politics at the time, plus pictures of me naked made the papers. Х Х Х Х Х Х Х Х Х Х Х Х Х Х Х Х Х FAVORITE PERFORMING EXPERIENCE: The prologue to "Knife/Tape/Rope" with Jonathan Walker. I was blind folded, tied up, and we danced to Kate Bush on the wrong speed. Х Х Х Х Х Х Х Х Х Х Х Х Х Х Х Х Х MOST TERRIFYING PERFORMING EXPERIENCE: OK, sticking my head inside that goat carcass in "THEM" was no picnic. Х Х Х Х Х Х Х Х Х Х Х Х Х Х Х Х Х FAVORITE PROP: Tie: Х The recurring cinder block. OR Х Carrying my Mom over my shoulder in "Relatives." Х Х Х Х Х Х Х Х Х Х Х Х Х Х Х Х Х HOBBIES: I have 17+ videotapes of films by the French pornographer Jean Daniel Cadinot. Х Х Х Х Х Х Х Х Х Х Х Х Х Х Х Х Х READING LIST: Х "A Herd" and "Safe" by Dennis Cooper; Х "Close to the Knives" by David Wojnarowicz; Х "Chelsea Girls" by Eileen Myles; Х "Story of the Eye" by Georges Bataille; Х "Public Sex" by Pat Califia; Х "Into the Wild" and "Into Thin Air" by Jon Krakauer; Х "My Dead Face" by Travis Jeppeson; Х Straight To Hell #s 29 thru 61 ( #s 31,32,33,37,38,39,55,56 missing; hint, hint). Х Х Х Х Х Х Х Х Х Х Х Х Х Х Х Х Х EARLY 80'S BRUSHES WITH FUTURE FAME: Х 1. Worked in a SoHo restaurant, FOOD, alongside Joie Lee (Spike's sister) and Thurston Moore (Sonic Youth). Customers of note -- Robert Mapplethorpe, Duane Michals, David Byrne, Meryl Streep, Caroline Kennedy. Х 2. Had a substance fueled night in an Amsterdam hotel with a "graffiti" artist who later had a posthumous one man show at the Whitney. Х 3. Shared an apartment on the Lower East Side with the actor Steve Buscemi when he made his first film, "Parting Glances." Х Х Х Х Х Х Х Х Х Х Х Х Х Х Х Х Х FAVORITE MUSIC (in no particular order): Stereolab, Tricky, Magnetic Fields /6ths, Outkast, Fat Boy Slim, MIMI, Nusrat Fateh Ali Kahn, Ween, Guided By Voices. Vintage Prince, Aretha, Nina Simone, and Cesaria Evora. Х Х Х Х Х Х Х Х Х Х Х Х Х Х Х Х Х FAVORITE (non-porn) FILMS Х "All About Eve," Х "Julia," Х "West Side Story," Х "Midnight Cowboy," Х "Naked Killer," Х "Naked" Х "Bound," Х "The Producers" Х "The Manchurian Candidate" Х and "Flesh," "Heat," and "Trash" Х Х Х Х Х Х Х Х Х Х Х Х Х Х Х Х Х QUOTE: "This is no dream, this is really happening," Rosemary, as she's being fХХХed by the Devil.	"Without Hope"