Signature Collage

“When I grew up, there weren’t many images of gay relationships. Brokeback Mountain hadn’t happened yet. So I feel men turned to porn, which is similar to the beginning of a relationship.” – SMW.

“Simon Rodea and the Watts Towers. Everybody does artistic research. Life management, as Megan says. My sister works around sex health and sex workers. My mother asked what was it about our upbringing that made our lives revolve around sex. We weren't brought up on sex. My parents are very sexual people, but privately. sex is justice and truth, when it's good, and we were raised to be interested in justice and truth.” – SMW, also referring to MH.

“Hannah on the phone. I've always been into people who take control of their own image. I can't see through your eyes. Art and your body – you can't. The total package. The interior, the exterior, the brain, the body. You're very greedy you want everything and I do.” – SMW and AC. “Flirting with the idea of being a pop star. Patti Smith I can do this.” – SMW and AC.

“List of artists, including horrible men. Donald Judd? I don't even want to speak his name. Donald Judd is patriarchal. Carolee is also here. My work is also about being a bit silly, or stupid. I'm very interested in these words. What does it mean? I'm not a serious artist. I constantly have to readjust my perception. I'm male and there is this expectation of male artists – I don't really like them. I don't like men generally, just sexually.” – SMW.

“Bisexual beef and self-suckers. Dad birthdays. Inches magazine. False bottom drawer with heterosexual porn. It didn’t make a difference – I just wanted to know what sex was. Christine’s anal fever. Hetero porn is still quite problematic, but for gay men they have to watch themselves to learn about themselves. Maybe it’s different now. But I learnt a lot, they were affirmative.” – SMW.

“The desire doesn’t stop – you don’t stop wanting, it just changes form. It’s funny that all I have left of six months of sex and fighting and all of it, is a banana – it seems appropriate.” – SMW.

“They are probably nice guys but it's kind of intense.” – SMW.

“Something about pink. Need.” – SMW.

“Carolee with her partner Bruce MacPherson around 1978. I’m not sure what the dog’s book is. Collection of books, cassettes, etc. She looks happy. Coded handwriting in the back so that no one could read it; it reads ‘Carolee, Carolee, necessity’ and other things I can no longer decipher.” – SMW with AC.

“Conscious of documenting myself as I grew up – it’s hard to imagine people otherwise. Obsessively documenting. Butterface. Justicebody. Growing up ugly. Sexy to WHO? Prawn head.” – AC and SMW.

“Ben Shawn's illustration from The Shape of Content – one of the less didactic 'you should follow' kind of figures I was introduced to. I actually was interested in his work. Very sweet.” – SMW paraphrased by MH.

“My mother holding a coat in a pancake restaurant in NY. I was working at the MET. The Unicorn tapestry. I was an intern, I would give tours and research how the nuns would live back in the 1400s. Maybe it’s me who doesn’t trust whenever someone has an alternative aesthetic and sometimes the behavior doesn’t match it. It’s much weirder when you are punk on the inside. I feel like I have a multi-colored mohawk even if I don’t look it. When it doesn’t match, you pay more attention to the behaviour. I was never so good at maintaining appearances. Gathering power through specific aesthetics. We construct our image or our image construct us somehow. Constructed image is not my strong point.” – AC and SMW.