Fear of a Red Planet | Exile on Main Street

Exile on Main Street
Here are essays on art, politics, culture, music and photography written from 1991 through the summer of 1997. They comprise the dazzling new cyberbook Exile on Main Street. This is all explained in the contents, have you been there yet?

Home of the Brave
Above is the cover for the summer 1994 issue of C, a Toronto arts magazine, complete with intimidating headline and photo of a a brilliant Jimmie Durham piece from that year's Whitney Bienniel, possibly the most hated exhibition of the 90s. Early title for this essay: Jukebox Spiritualism.

From Lake Geneva to the Finland Station
A largely autobiographical piece written for an important show called Native Nations in Urban Landscapes, organized by Marcia Crosby in Vancouver. The show included fine work by Shelley Niro, Faye HeavyShield, and Eric Robertson.

How Do You Define Sacred?
This appeared in a May, 1997 special issue of High Country News, focusing on battles between public land managers and Indians over access to sacred sites.

Ghost in the Machine
In 1995 Peggy Roalf edited a special issue of Aperture magazine that featured work by dozens of Indian photographers, and essays by Leslie Marmon Silko, Scott Momaday.

Land of a Thousand Dances
Written for the 1993 Sundance Film Festival, a year that saw the first-ever Native panel. We all got to fly to Park City, Utah, meet Robert Redford and watch tons of cool movies.

The Big Movie
Spent the summer of 1992 on the prairies of Saskatchwan courtesy of the Dunlop Art Gallery. Later that year I organized a film series called Story of Our Lives. This essay is from the catalog for that series. A cartoon Indian on the cover wonders "Now that mainstream westerns portray Indians as heroes and claim them as fans, is the image thing worth the struggle?"

A Place Called Irony
The essay I wrote for San Francisco's AICA gallery was greeted with a deafening silence, but it's one of my personal faves. Some found it a little bit "out there," kinda different. Unusual. An embarrassing misfire or a misunderstood masterpiece? You decide.

Life During Peacetime
Another one of those art/culture/autobiographical pieces, this time for a show called Across Borders.

(detail of New York Times article on the real author of beloved Indian book for kids)
(Eric Robertson's parking meter, from catalog of Nations in Urban Landscapes)
(bird flying over Comanche Peak)
(detail from Strong Hearts)
(detail from Sundance Film Festival catalog, 1993)
(detail from Story of Our Lives catalog, 1992)
(detail from Indian Humor catalog, 1995)
(murky image of Across Borders opening in Peterborough, Ontario, 1996)

Exile on Main Street Here are essays on art, politics, culture, music and photography written from 1991 through the summer of 1997. They comprise the dazzling new cyberbook Exile on Main Street. This is all explained in the contents, have you been there yet?

	Home of the Brave Above is the cover for the summer 1994 issue of C, a Toronto arts magazine, complete with intimidating headline and photo of a a brilliant Jimmie Durham piece from that year's Whitney Bienniel, possibly the most hated exhibition of the 90s. Early title for this essay: Jukebox Spiritualism.
	From Lake Geneva to the Finland Station A largely autobiographical piece written for an important show called Native Nations in Urban Landscapes, organized by Marcia Crosby in Vancouver. The show included fine work by Shelley Niro, Faye HeavyShield, and Eric Robertson.
	How Do You Define Sacred? This appeared in a May, 1997 special issue of High Country News, focusing on battles between public land managers and Indians over access to sacred sites.
	Ghost in the Machine In 1995 Peggy Roalf edited a special issue of Aperture magazine that featured work by dozens of Indian photographers, and essays by Leslie Marmon Silko, Scott Momaday.
	Land of a Thousand Dances Written for the 1993 Sundance Film Festival, a year that saw the first-ever Native panel. We all got to fly to Park City, Utah, meet Robert Redford and watch tons of cool movies.
	The Big Movie Spent the summer of 1992 on the prairies of Saskatchwan courtesy of the Dunlop Art Gallery. Later that year I organized a film series called Story of Our Lives. This essay is from the catalog for that series. A cartoon Indian on the cover wonders "Now that mainstream westerns portray Indians as heroes and claim them as fans, is the image thing worth the struggle?"
	A Place Called Irony The essay I wrote for San Francisco's AICA gallery was greeted with a deafening silence, but it's one of my personal faves. Some found it a little bit "out there," kinda different. Unusual. An embarrassing misfire or a misunderstood masterpiece? You decide.
	Life During Peacetime Another one of those art/culture/autobiographical pieces, this time for a show called Across Borders.

(detail of New York Times article on the real author of beloved Indian book for kids) (Eric Robertson's parking meter, from catalog of Nations in Urban Landscapes) (bird flying over Comanche Peak) (detail from Strong Hearts) (detail from Sundance Film Festival catalog, 1993) (detail from Story of Our Lives catalog, 1992) (detail from Indian Humor catalog, 1995) (murky image of Across Borders opening in Peterborough, Ontario, 1996)