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April 11, 2002
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 In Andy Warhol's six-hour film opus Sleep, John Giorno is the guy sleeping. He also happens to be the inventor of performance poetry, marrying technology, rock 'n' roll and pornography with an art form all too often associated with the sublime and genteel. Giorno's books include Balling Buddha; Cancer in My Left Ball; Cum; and You've Got to Burn to Shine (1994), featuring memories of his love affair with Warhol. Other former Giorno flames include William S. Burroughs and artists Robert Rauschenberg, Jasper Johns and, anonymously, Keith Haring.
Now in his sixties, Giorno still lives in the Lower East Side flat he shared with Burroughs, where he played with friends like Allen Ginsberg, Frank O'Hara, Gregory Corso, Anne Waldman, Lydia Lunch, Jim Carroll, the band Husker Du and Marianne Faithfull. In a room full of Buddhist paraphernalia (Giorno lends Burroughs's old room to a weekly meditation group), we looked back on his lifelong relationship with pornography, celebrating his famous 1965 groundbreaker, "Pornographic Poem."
Pornographic Poem
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Commentarium (8 Comments)
Wow, incredible. Your best interview in months. It was so interesting to see a sexual history that retained its "fucking" essence. I loved it.
What a great interview. Absolutely perfect. Give that Nester more work.
"He also happens to be the inventor of performance poetry, marrying technology, rock 'n' roll and pornography with an art form all too often associated with the sublime and genteel."
I disagree with that. When I think of performance poetry, I think of Lydia Lunch.
Other than that, it's a fantastic interview. All of the Nerve pieces should be this good.
I LOVED READING THIS INTERVIEW ABOUT JOHN. VERY INTERESTING AND THOUGHT-PROVOKING.
IT MUST HAVE BEEN SUCH A GREAT TIME TO BE LIVING AND TO BE AN ARTIST OF ALL SORTS
DURING THE 60'S AND 70'S. AND BEFORE. I LOVE JOHN GIORNO'S WORK AND THE FACT THAT HE IS SO CANDID AND HONEST ABOUT HIS LIFE, LOVES AND HIS WRITING. yOU DO A GREAT JOB OF GETTING
TO THE BONE MARROW OF THINGS IN THE INTERVIEW. BRAVO!!!!!!!!! I HAVE HIS BOOK. YOU GOT TO BURN TO SHINE AND I KNEW OF THE WRITINGS THAT ARE ASKED ABOUT. THIS WAS FUN TO READ.
SHANE
loved the poem!
I really liked this interview. It was very informative, entertaining and most of all for me as a poet, inspirational. I love sex, and most of all, i love to write about sex. John Giorno's words made me feel that what i love to do, isn't a bad thing or seen as being trite. Thanks Mr. Giorno.
Prison sucks. Thanks for the reminder.
I am looking for where i can find John's published account of the penis sizes of all the famous writers and artists he's had sex with....can you please write back to me with this information??
Thank you,