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)
From Chris Coon, via Heather: "Chris used to go to art school/Cal Arts with Peter. He's a drummer from the Bay area who played in SF punk bands Impatient Youth and the Woundz. Small world and funny that we met here on this island a coon's age after we both played in the punk rock scene. "...He says on the left of Peter is Paul Casteel, singer of the band Touch Me Hooker. Right of Pete is filmmaker Joshua Heller and next to Josh is Jay Lehman, record executive and musician. The guy in the left foreground he didn't identify. Circa 1978 at his parents' house in Vallejo, Ca."
One Year Memorial Weekend of Septemter 26-27th, 2009, Los Angeles Location and details to be determined. Please let me know if you might be interested in attending. Thanks, Gretl (gretlr hotmail com) Satan Scouts (album cover art) photo by John Eder, design by Peter Haskell
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":
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:
Doriandra sent the following. "a self portrait that Peter sent me right before his death:" Photo by Peter Haskell.
A LONG WAY HOME, Doriandra "The first time I met Peter, I was in a drug induced fragile haze brought on by several days of recording discordant music in a studio in the middle of my cramped hovel house which was filled to capacity with beautiful broken machinery, plastic baby parts, horror imagery, way too many pets and an ill begotten collection of broken and mutated music instruments. Peter walked right in, gave me a hug that startled me from the morbid thoughts so akin to my everyday isolation and proceeded with great reverence, to film various pieces of my art, my mess - "it's all beauty" he said while calmly straddling the bathtub filled with broken glass. "So time passed, 10 years or so..we grew up, fragments of time were created and discarded as it became apparent that the accidental grace and beauty of youth was soon to slip away. and it did. In 2008, Peter and I found ourselves individually isolated in different states, both rather heart sick from various decisions we had made. We began to vigorously communicate, attempting to make sense of the sad events that had occurred in the life of our dearest mutual friend, Thomas who was far away in Germany. As it soon became apparent that we could only save ourselves, we began to plot the progress back to where we knew there was both the maddening inspiration that only Los Angeles, the city of our collective artistic origins, could harbor. Peter embarked across the country late last summer in the trusty Saab, shortly before I packed up my fragments and left my safe little house in the middle of nowhere, sadly feeding the ravens one last time. "I am grateful for the few shared sunset views from the last place he lived - laughing in the dirty hallway when the trains roared by, having to shout to be heard. Writing his name in used matchsticks on the floor and greeting the LA River homeless men with kindness, waving from the grimy window. Going downtown for fabric..I wish I could see the last pictures he took before he died, decaying mannequins on Broadway, dignified southern black men selling fancy suits, little immigrant women clutching children to their breasts, me threatening the miserable meter maid. "All lost, like a life taken erroneously. You just have to wonder sometimes about the beauty in the world. And mostly about those people like Peter that can harness it, spin it with their own bruised fingers and hand it back to you as a fragile mirror to view your own greatness in. I'm hoping that the brightness you brought to those around you will be a light to guide you to wherever your new home may be."
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:
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
