THIS LONG CENTURY

THIS BOX

— In my book Deformer (Damiani, 2008) I used ephemera saved from my youth along with photographs to illustrate my thesis about growing up in suburbia. A big part of the ephemera was letters from my Grandparents, and especially my grandfather, William, who served as my father after my dad had ran off with our 16-year-old babysitter.

One letter in particular was sent because of a caption on a photo of me in a skateboard magazine said, “Ed Templeton subliminally worships the devil” (written because of the hand gesture I was subconsciously making in the photo.) My grandparents took this 100% literally and demanded that I get a public apology from the magazine to protect my image, – or that if I had “indicated an interest in satanic worship” that I would do well to keep it out of the public light.

Not only is this generationally comedic, it’s also very touching. It showed me that even if I had become a devil-worshipper, something that to them as born-again Christians would be the pinnacle of disappointment, they would still love me.

Of course, the minute I finished Deformer this box was hand-delivered to me by my grandparents amongst all sorts of other items from their house they thought I might want. It said, “To Be Opened Only By Ed.” and was taped shut. I am 34 years old.

I present to you the content of this box:

Figure 1: The box
Figure 2: The box opened

Figure 3: The letter

Figure 4: A clipping from TWS skateboard magazine about my friendship with fellow pro skater Geoff Rowley that may have been the start of this whole idea that I am some sort of porn addict. The text that is circled says: Ed, in turn, attempted to organize Tuesday Night Porno Night. (This didn’t go over too well; he rented MIDGETS ON GILLIGAN’S ISLAND, and after an hour of watching midget sex, the event was killed.)

Figure 5: A tear sheet of a Toy Machine ad. (Toy Machine is a skateboard company I own and run from 1993 to present.)

Figure 6: Another clipping from TWS skateboard magazine discussing one of my exhibitions, and mentioning “explicit” artwork.

Figure 7: A clipping from TWS again, mentioning my exhibition in 1998 at Space 1026 in Philadelphia.

Figure 8: A clipping from BUSINESS WEEK MAGAZINE.

Figure 9: A tear-out of a Toy Machine ad with me skateboarding, I don’t know how this relates to pornography. Maybe the portrait of me with an angel on one shoulder saying, “Do good.” and the devil on the other one saying, “No. Evil.”

Figure 10: A clipping blown up via copy machine from the American Family Association. He circled two items from a poll related to pornography or sex on TV that are contributing to the United States’ moral decline.

Figure 11: Another Toy Machine ad pulled from a skate magazine. Perhaps the language was offensive to him?

Figure 12: A photocopy from a skate magazine covering my first exhibition with Roberts and Tilton gallery in LA with the headline “Rawness Prevails…”

Figure 13: A booklet from RBC ministries titled, A MAN’S EYE WANDERS, BREAKING THE POWER OF PORNOGRAPHY.

Figure 14: A tear-out from the AFA JOURNAL.

Figure 15: A photocopy from the AFA JOURNAL.

Figure 16: A tear-out from the AFA JOURNAL.

Figure 17: A tear-out from the AFA JOURNAL.

Figure 18: A tear-out from the AFA JOURNAL.

Figure 19: A photocopy of a newspaper clipping.

Figure 20: A tear-out from the AFA JOURNAL.

Figure 21: A tear-out from the AFA JOURNAL.

Figure 22: A tear-out from the AFA JOURNAL.

Figure 23: A tear-out from the AFA JOURNAL.

Figure 24: At the bottom of the box was a VHS video from Focus on the Family Films starring Dr. James Dobson titled, PORNOGRAPHY: ADDICTIVE, PROGRESSIVE AND DEADLY.

I have never sent the postcard to them, and it has never come up in conversation. I can’t imagine how long he had been collecting these things, and it disturbs me a little bit that every time he sees the word ‘porno’ he thinks of me based on a few jokes found in skateboard magazines. I am more disturbed by his mass consumption of the AFA, Focus on the Family, and James Dobson. My grandfather is 90 years old. Like many things in life, this is a double edged sword, it’s sharp on both sides. The continuing love and concern for his fully grown grandson, and the delusion of a devoutly religious human being.
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Ed Templeton was born in 1972 in Huntington Beach, California, where he continues to reside. The Cemetery of Reason, Templeton’s first solo museum exhibition is currently on view at the S.M.A.K. in Gent, Belgium and will travel to the Museo Dell’Arte in Nuro, Sardinia and the Ernst Museum in Budapest, Hungary. Selected group exhibitions include the International Center of Photography, New York, NY (2010); SCHUNCK Glaspaleis, Heerlen, The Netherlands (2009); ARKEN Museum of Modern Art, Copenhagen, Denmark (2007); Pinchuk Art Center, Kyjiv, Ukraine (2007); Australian Center for Photography, Sydney, Australia (2007); Kunstalle Vienna, Vienna, Austria; Baltic Centre for Contemporary Art, Gateshead, United Kingdom (2006); Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, San Francisco, CA (2004); Museum Het Domein, Sittard, Holland (2003). DEFORMER, Templeton’s 2008 publication, won ‘book of the year’ at the 2009 International Festival of Photography in Rome, Italy. Ed Templeton is represented by Roberts & Tilton, Culver City, CA.

www.robertsandtilton.com

Gene Beery, REIFICATION, 2006, Acrylic on Gessoed Canvas, 14×11″
www.genebeery.info
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Wayne Gonzales
paulacoopergallery.com
stephenfriedman.com
patrickdebrock.com

— This is the back cover of a book I made in the 3rd grade titled Masterworks and Things. I wrote two to three sentences about each artist and drew the illustrations–pencil drawings, mostly copying paintings. The last of the book’s 18 pages promises future volumes on Jimmy Carter and Alexander Calder but I never got around to doing those.

In 2005 Eva Prinz contacted me about writing a book about sound art for Rizzoli, where she was then an editor. I happily accepted, although most of my writing up until that point had been for music magazines, so in my mind working with an art book publisher seemed a bit anomalous–even though I felt that a lot of the profiles I’ve done for magazines were, in a way, an extension of the interest in portraiture and drawing that I had as a kid (Masterworks and Things is virtually all portraits). I had forgotten about Masterworks and Things until several months later, when my mother was selling the house I grew up and I was going through my old belongings there. Looking at it again, for the first time in ages, I realized that I had actually envisioned writing, and made, an art book thirty years before. Rizzoli’s commission fulfilled an ambition I had forgotten ever having.

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Born in 1968, guitarist and author Alan Licht has been active in New York’s rock and experimental music scenes for the past two decades, as composer, improvisor, curator and lecturer, while also engaging in performances and installations that intersect with his interests in film and art. He is the author of SOUND ART: BEYOND MUSIC CATEGORIES (Rizzoli, 2007) and AN EMOTIONAL MEMOIR OF MARTHA QUINN (Drag City, 2002) and has appeared on nearly 100 recordings.

www.myspace.com/alanlicht

— This is the campus where I lived for three months in the summer of 2002. It’s located in the outskirts of St. Petersburg, on Vasilievsky Island. I was studying Russian at the University of Amsterdam and had come here to do a language exchange program, with the State University in St. Peterburg. I shared my room with two other guys. It was during this summer that I came up with the idea and script for Nummer twee, Just because I’m standing here doesn’t mean I want to. This was my first ever film and later became the standard for all my works. It was a work in which a lot of things came together and the first work that I ever made, that I liked. This picture was taken in March 2010 when I was in St. Petersburg and decided to go back for a visit.

Photo by Johanna Ketola
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Guido van der Werve was born in 1977 in Papendrecht, The Netherlands. His works have been exhibited widely in both solo and group exhibitions, including the Tate Modern in London, De Appel in Amsterdam, Stedelijk Museum Bureau Amsterdam, De Hallen in Haarlem, MoMa New York, Centro Andaluz de Arte Contemporáneo in Sevilla, Galeria Vermelho in São Paulo, National Centre for Contemporary Art in Moscow, Museum Ludwig in Cologne, Manifesta 7, the Torino Triennial 2008, the Hayward Gallery London, the Royal Academy London, Kunsthalle Basel, and the Hirshhorn Museum in Washington.

www.marcfoxx.com
www.luhringaugustine.com
www.monitoronline.org
www.juliettejongma.com

WALLPAPER

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Florian Süssmayr is a painter born 1963 in Munich, Germany. Süssmayr draws inspiration form his roots in the german leftist political scene of the 1980s – being a part of the punk movement FREIZEIT 81 and the band LORENZ LORENZ. His work touches on topics such as social marginalization and civil disobedience and has been exhibited internationally including Haus der Kunst, Munich.

www.suessmayr.de