Exploring the Vibrant Underbelly of 1960s New York City: Downtown Delights as Unveiled in J. Hoberman's latest book
In a striking exploration of the vibrant 1960s New York avant-garde scene, J. Hoberman's latest offering, "Everything Is Now," serves as a gripping guide through an era that significantly shaped modern art, film, music, and culture. The author paints a captivating portrait of the city's experimental period, focusing on Jonas Mekas, the grand doyen of the city's experimental cinema, and his eccentric contemporaries.
Hoberman's work offers a titillating journey through the art epochs of midnight movies, the paranoid 1960s, and the milquetoast films of Reagan's 1980s. In his latest endeavor, "New York Now," Mekas is the central figure, a mentor to Hoberman and a self-proclaimed poet who valued beauty in works dismissed as pornographic, celebrity navel-gazing, or a waste of time.
The book is filled with films that mirrored contemporary society, such as Shirley Clarke's portrait of a Black gay gigolo, Jack Smith's and Paul Morrissey's satirical takes on cheap-o B-Hollywood glamour, and Mekas and Robert Frank's diaristic films. The era was marked by a chaotic synchronicity, with Manhattan's hipsters congregating hip-to-hip, cafes leading to dance halls, ushering an environment where ideas for alternative futures flowed freely.
The narrative in "Everything Is Now" unfolds like a relentless avalanche, with outrageous events from the downtown diaspora cascading one after the other. An uprising in Harlem coincides with the production of Shirley Clarke and Frederick Wiseman's "Cool World" (1963), while Warhol and Mekas's all-night filming of "Empire" follows a week later. Elsewhere, Diane Arbus and Linda Eastman discuss f-stops in a park, Allen Ginsberg befriends Harry Smith, and Timothy Leary invests in Smith's animated take on "The Wizard of Oz."
Reading Hoberman's book, one senses a whirlwind of cultural items that demand rediscovery or revisitation. The author highlights Yoko Ono's "Plastic Ono Band" (1970) as the culmination of her extensive artistic journey, and considers Ono and Lennon's "WAR IS OVER! / if you want it / HAPPY CHRISTMAS FROM JOHN AND YOKO" billboards as the era's quintessential artwork.
Hoberman's writing is a testament to the fluidity of art, film, music, and writing, which, despite remaining siloed in the present day, are inseparable in his eyes. The status quo, he contends, is ahistorical, and he champions cross-pollination as essential for cultural growth.
Hoberman's work is at once a tribute to a bygone era and a call to reexamine the barriers between artistic disciplines. The book serves as a poignant memorial to the shuttered "East Village Other" and the "Village Voice," Warhol's Exploding Plastic Inevitables, Jerry Schatzberg's legendary loft parties, and the propulsive youth-led hope that escaped the US Cold War situation.
In essence, "Everything Is Now" offers a riveting glimpse into the unconscious mind of a vibrant, groundbreaking era, awash in artistry, rebellion, and innovation. Though the writer did not personally experience the events described, the cinematic-novelistic narrative evokes the era so vividly as to make it feel remarkably real. The book serves as a compelling reminder of a time when art shattered boundaries and upended expectations.
- J. Hoberman's book, "Everything Is Now," is a modern exploration of art, film, music, and culture in the 1960s New York avant-garde scene, specifically focusing on an era that significantly shaped modern art.
- Hoberman's work, "New York Now," features Jonas Mekas as the central figure, a self-proclaimed poet who valued beauty in works dismissed as overt or unconventional, and Mekas is a mentor to Hoberman.
- The book is filled with films that mirrored contemporary society, including Shirley Clarke's portrait of a Black gay gigolo, Jack Smith's and Paul Morrissey's satirical takes on cheap-o B-Hollywood glamour, and Mekas and Robert Frank's diaristic films.
- Hoberman's writing is a testament to the fluidity of art, film, music, and writing, which, despite remaining siloed in the present day, are inseparable in his eyes, and he champions cross-pollination as essential for cultural growth.
- "Everything Is Now" serves as a compelling reminder of a time when art shattered boundaries and upended expectations, and it offers a riveting glimpse into the unconscious mind of a vibrant, groundbreaking era, awash in artistry, rebellion, and innovation. It is not just a tribute to a bygone era but also a call to reexamine the barriers between artistic disciplines.
