Exhibitions

HENRY ROLLINS: COOL EVIDENCE

Radar615 / 516 Hagan St., #100 November 6 - 7th

Henry Rollins

Hello, Henry Rollins here. I wrote the following in an effort to somehow entice you to come to this event. An incredible amount of time, effort and expenditure has gone into this. I’ve either gotten it extremely right, or catastrophically wrong!

For many years, I’ve been fascinated with historical markers. Physical objects that still remain years after they were created, become irrefutable evidence of time and place. Memories fade and retelling of facts often leads to distortion. However, the genuine article remains unperturbed.

Cool Evidence exhibit—I’ve anthropomorphized Time. I think Time seeks to obliterate the past and make the future all but completely speculative in an effort to keep us in the present, where it can be the center of attention. This is why carbon-based artifacts turn to dust, and that which came before can completely disappear, unless there are those who choose to be careful and patient guardians of the past. They seek to slow down decay and keep the facts intact. While I don’t consider Time to be my enemy, I’d like to think it considers me a constant and persistent annoyance.

Humans are capable of the worst things the planet has ever endured. I try to focus on the truly great, epically inspired aspects of humanity. Everything in the Cool Evidence exhibit denotes a time and place, be it an event, or just the fraction of a second it takes for a camera to extract an image—forcing a testimony from Time that humans can be exceptional. There’s always an alternative to misery. The Cool Evidence exhibit is the proof.

On display will be things from the 70s-80s Washington DC music scene, tour posters and photos of Black Flag, the Damned, the Cramps, from Lux and Ivy’s personal collection, Iggy Pop, the Stooges and more.

I’d like to thank Lain York of Radar615/MZA for his unwavering enthusiasm in allowing this project to materialize. When I pitched him on the idea months ago, he didn’t hesitate.

Thanks for reading this,

Henry