So Peter would have been sixty-three goddamned years old today. And it still makes me disgusted and angry that that time has been stolen from him. What would he have done, what would he have created?
Anyway, here are a couple of cool things - a wonderful remembrance by Michael Gentile: Remembering an Artist's Wild Life
with a photo by Cindy Heidel:
Friday is the first anniversary of Peter's death, and I've spent a lot of time thinking about what I learned from him, which I know he'd think was important too. He'd probably say he taught me about good music, which he did; Liza recently told me that Peter took "a kind of big brother pride in the fact that he turned you on to David Bowie" - and X, and the Blasters, and on and on. But actually the most important thing he taught me about, accidentally maybe, was women. When I was a kid I knew that it was crucially important for a woman to be "pretty," and was very concerned about how I'd ever end up attaining that state myself. Now I realize it was always a losing battle for me, as pretty is about smallness, fragility, quietness, and blending in - all fine qualities for lace doilies and baby bunnies, but not so good for adults. My brother didn't hang out with women like that, and because of him, while I was still a teenager I met or saw performances by Exene, Lydia, Heather and Pat Oleszko - who were, to a woman, loud, weird, abrasive, fascinating, kind, and feared no one. They were completely mind-altering, especially in the bland hell that was Buffalo in the Reagan 80s. I remember being 17 and hearing Lydia, then all of 25 herself, remark that if a man tried to rape her she'd just laugh in his face. Had I been more self-aware at the time, I would have proposed to her on the spot. They were - and are - so powerful. But they also tended to be amazingly nice to me, maybe just because I was Peter's little sister, but I hoped that they also saw that I was a little bit like them. So thank you, Peter: I am loud, often irritating, and somewhat strange, and extremely proud of it. I love you. Gretl
Pat Oleszko, Roamin' Holiday: A View from A Broad (www.patoleszko.com)
Liza reminded me about this LA Times article about the artist Ed Colver, and the accompanying slideshow of his collage/house, with music by Peter and Thomas and photography by Genaro Molina (as Liza also remarks, you can also see the mannequin legs with the red high heels that are in a previous post). LA Times audio slideshow, "Beautiful Junque": http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/la-ca-0817-colver-fl,0,2046638.flash and the related article, "Edward Colver's art remains punk," August 17, 2008: http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/news/arts/la-ca-colver17-2008aug17,0,7015938.story Art by Edward Colver; photo (from the LA Times) by Genaro Molina.
This is the music video Beth and Peter were working on when he was killed; she wasn't able to use any of what they had shot originally, as it didn't match the new stuff, but still went with their original plans. I'm really glad she finished it. Their mutual friend Mark worked on it too. Beth Thompson & The Shway, "Painful Cyst":
From the Facebook.com album "Life in LA's post-punk trenches" by Heather Haley, with Heather's comments. (The full album is here, although you may not be able to access it if you're not a facebook member: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=26312&id=527457037&ref=mf.)
"Some Paul Greenstein project/concept. Peter in the middle, forget the guy's name to the right of him but he was a Brit/expat. Please identify." Photo copyright Frank Gargani. (NB: I'm pretty sure I saw these guys playing on the N Train this morning. - GR)
"L to R: Peter Haskell, Paul Greenstein, and the previously mentioned Brit/expat. What was his name? I remember he went to truck driving school and drove a big rig across the U.S., just because he wanted to. :-o " Photo copyright Frank Gargani.
Photo courtesy of Heather Haley From Heather: "...this was taken at the Cathay De Grande by Gary Leonard (I think) on the occasion of our Rattler Magazine benefit which included Dave Alvin, John Doe, Exene Cervenka, Carlos Guitarlos, De De Detroit, Phast Phreddie, Ivan Roth, Victor Noel, Tequila Mockingbird, Doug Knott and Michael Mollet on the bill. The bands that played were Greg Burk's Dred Scott, Seditionaries, Minutemen, Off, and Malocchio (Jhim Pattison and Byron Baker's neo-surrealist band of madmen)."
More: Poster for "Bad Day," a film by Modi Frank and Exene Cervenka featuring Peter Haskell; courtesy of Heather Haley:
Zero One Club poster by Peter Haskell; courtesy of Heather Haley:
Zero One Club poster by Peter Haskell; courtesy of Heather Haley:
Zuade forwarded the URL for this video Peter did for a friend of hers; I hadn't seen it before. Luna Paris, "One More Night": http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bWvLOb47Ro4
From Ralph Easton: "Last night here in Roanoke VA we hosted an art/poetry event. Performance artist Id M Theft Able was the headliner. We also had a few sculptures & paintings on display. We projected some videos on the wall. Friends from New Jersey called in, & read poetry over the PA. We made collaborative art works during the event. I put up these photos of Pete, & made a brief dedication of the event to Pete. This event is part of a series of events that we do here, & another part of what we do is create, & post all documentation to a flicker photo set. For this event I came home with 130 photos." You can take a look here: www.flickr.com/photos/textimagepoetry/sets/72157607347527450
A 1986 music video, directed by Peter and starring Art and Artie Barnes (Bill Mumy and Robert Haimer), Miguel Ferrer, Gwen L, Flea, Eileen Davis. Liza found this one, and it's truly elegant:
This first one ... medicine, never click ... was mostly shot at my house (aka the Junkfarm). Bob Moss has a cameo as the doctor. I too have a cameo. I'm the crazy redneck near the end. I met the musicians, and the other actors, but don't remember their names.
Video Peter Haskell
This second one ... Charlestowne Dream ... to my knowledge, he did by himself, about a year ago.
These are Paula Gillen's. The first set are with Michael Gentile, Brian Donnegan, Cindy Heidel (?) at the Maryland Institute; the latter two from during the shooting of "AshPattle," a film by Pat Oleszko in which Pete and Don White played Cinderella's ugly stepsisters. Photo courtesy of Paula Gillen. Photo courtesy of Paula Gillen. Pat Oleszko; "AshPattle." Photo courtesy of Paula Gillen. Pat Oleszko; "AshPattle." Photo courtesy of Paula Gillen.
Peter Haskell died in Los Angeles on September 11, 2008, at age 51. He was a filmmaker, artist, writer and musician,
and is survived by his son Paris, his mother Ann, his siblings Constantine (Dean), Mark and Gretl, and by many steadfast friends and creative co-conspirators.
Please contribute your art, photos, or reminiscences about Peter by emailing me at gretlr hotmail com.
Copyrights are owned by the individuals listed. Uncredited materials on this blog are owned by me. If you want to reproduce something or see a mistake or omission, please contact me at the email listed above.
Main image: Peter and Bella, photo by Eliza Walsh.
Further details about Peter's death can be found in Paul Cullum's LA Weekly article of July 7, 2009: http://www.laweekly.com/2009-07-09/news/beautiful-loser-tortured-killer
Unless otherwise noted, all contents copyright 2008-2011 G. Rasmussen
