“He’s the only person I’ve ever met who I’d hero worshipped, that was exectly how I’d expected him to be. He was everything that I’d hoped him to be. Which was incredible. Inhumanly intelligent. I was interested in him primarily as a character, the way he lived, he was a ‘more than real’ real life character. A phenomena. I was already into he idea that the most important work is the way you live and you should live it as a work and try to make each aspect of it as interesting as you can.” William S. Burroughs
The Ballad of Genesis and Lady Jaye // Trailer from Marie Losier on Vimeo.
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Marie Losier
A native of France, Marie Losier has made film portraits of such avant-garde artists as filmmakers Guy Maddin and The Kuchar brothers, theater director Richard Foreman; and composer / filmmaker Tony Conrad. Whimsical, poetic, dreamlike and unconventional, her films explore the life and work of these artists through an endless variety of cinematic means. Losier’s works are presented regularly in prestigious museums and film festivals around the world (Tate Modern, Withney Biennial, PS1, MOMA, Centre Georges Pompidou, Wexner Museum, Tribeca, Flaherty Seminar, Berlin Film Festival, Rotterdam).
She lives/works in New York and has been the film curator at FIAF since 2000.
Genesis Breyer P-Orridge has been a key figure of the underground music scene for over 30 years. A cult artist in prepunk and post-punk groups Throbbing Gristle (1975 to 1981) and Psychic TV (1981 to present), he is considered to be the father of industrial music and a pioneer of acid house and techno. Not content with breaking new ground in music, Genesis has also used his position at the limits of society to challenge the very fundamentals of biology.
Transformation is, indeed, central to his life. He became a she to resemble his beloved Lady Jaye, now deceased. With peroxide hair, full lips and gold teeth, Genesis does not go unnoticed. A unique life, modeled on his other, Lady Jaye, who remains an integral part of himself. Without subscribing to any movement but living life as the ultimate experiment, he has made his body a work of art.
A kaleidoscopic collection of moving surfaces, composed of interviews (Orlan, Peaches, Peter Christopherson), role plays, concerts and his day to day life, comes together to paint a multi-faceted profile of this pioneer of industrial music and in doing so, exposes the abundant yet inherently elusive nature of his creativity.