Comments on: A Conversation with Mark Mothersbaugh of Devo

By: doubleagentohno

doubleagentohno — Wed, 27 Aug 2008 19:07:14 +0000

While not the friendliest interview – no puff or fluff – Mothersbaugh enjoyed it enough to link it to his website and invite me to witness DEVO at McCarren pool in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. Although McCarren pool is a New York City public park, tickets were priced at $55 each (as were those of other bands who played there this summer). Well, I was not going to pass up that kinda payola. DEVO were great!! After the show, Mark came on staget as Boojie Boy and threw bananas and superballs into the crowd until a representative of the parks department took the microphone from him, demonstrating that free people can’t hang out in a public park after a curfew they didn’t have the opportunity to vote for (or against).

Thanks to Coilhouse for this publishing opportunity.

READERS: Be on the lookout for more material by me in the weeks to come.

Yours (and mine),

Agent Double Oh-No !

By: » Blog Archive » links for 2008-06-24

» Blog Archive » links for 2008-06-24 — Mon, 25 Aug 2008 20:54:30 +0000

[...] Coilhouse » Blog Archive » A Conversation with Mark Mothersbaugh of Devo Great interview with some insightful comments as well. (tags: musick culture art) [...]

By: Mary Couzens

Mary Couzens — Sat, 19 Jul 2008 08:00:54 +0000

Hi Mark,
Thanks for doing your thing, it’s very inspring! Tried to see you guys at Shepherd’s Bush Empire in London…Was in the audience, but just not tall enough to see over all the leaping de-evolved males in the audience. Oh well…You sound great!

Mary

By: R V C A

R V C A — Thu, 17 Jul 2008 17:51:49 +0000

By: Tequila

Tequila — Thu, 19 Jun 2008 16:14:10 +0000

“I’m surprised D.A. Oh No’s interview hasn’t inspired MORE discussion.”

It’s one of those interviews you need to read, go off and think, re-read certain parts then honesty come back with something to say. I’ve a feeling this one will be a slow burn kinda thing.

My experience with DEVO is mainly as a kid and the pop culture references. So much of what I read was news to me…took a while to wrap my head around it.

The notion of “selling out” seems to drown any who make a good living at what they do. As though you automatically lose credibility with a certain group of elitists or rabid fans who behave much like the fundamentalists they distrust and rail against. So the commercial ventures Mothersbaugh has entered don’t really qualify to me as selling out so much as it is entering a larger pool to play in. I like and adore commercial art…things that MANY see as opposed to small galleries or shows that feel like they only cater to a certain crowd. That’s not fun to me. If a person can see a certain commercial and get a feeling or thought beyond that of the product being pitched…one has something pretty powerful.

The best artists for my money (literally…the ones I spend my meager earnings on) are those who couple all the deep intellectualism with a sense of fun…even when it’s something pretty dark.I doubt any would say Mothersbaugh isn’t having fun with all he does. I like his ideas of keeping art around as opposed to one centralized place (NYC and whale like collectors I’m looking at you…)

“They get tired of fighting. Toil is used as the main manipulator of humans to keep them under control.”

That’s really the reason so many are silent today and have allowed so much to go unchecked. So few have time to breathe and relax that you can’t even get them out to enjoy the things they love…it’s no shock that the little time they do have is spent in front of the TV trying to escape the reality of debt, 40+ hour work weeks, and spirit killing work related nonsense. Makes it hard to care what any artist has to say when the connection to them is not there…lets face it few artists today know how to connect with people who aren’t artists on some level themselves.

“Wait a minute. Do you see what’s going on? Do you see what you are a part of?”

That’s about the most anyone can ask from someone really…art wise that is…it’s a hard set of questions to answer honestly. More so if the answers are less than…optimistic.

By: Jon Munger

Jon Munger — Wed, 18 Jun 2008 02:43:52 +0000

DEVO was one of those seminal artists in my youth. I grew up primarily in downtown Indianapolis, where if you weren’t listening to Ice Cube and pretending to be ‘gangsta’ you were a freak, and North Carolina, where everyone was somebody’s freak. DEVO was really my first, filtered look at avante-garde.

Nostalgia aside, I’m reading a guy whose world-view has matured a bit, and has to justify his youthful excesses. I’m not sure I could go the commercial route he’s gone (not that I’m getting any offers), but I can’t discredit the man for making a very good living out of being the weirdo’s weirdo. Success, after all, is the best form of revenge.

Barring that, there’s the pit filled with snakes. But you’d be surprised how successful you have to be to get that many snakes together.

By: William Neal

William Neal — Wed, 18 Jun 2008 00:18:29 +0000

Yes, great job dude. Interesting to check out the videos and think a bit. I grew up with them, thought, stupid. Liked the Talking Heads. Didn’t really care what they (Heads) had to say. Knew and know that you had to make a living and would almost do whatever, and so what, but have never made it thus far and to see old as new and hip again is…by and by acceptable, more or less, but, still, the man is/was to me, coy. Holding back as ever. But, of course, I’ve enjoyed his work, and continue to. The art contained in this piece is cool/funny. I’m sure I couldn’t afford it. Would love to just hang stuff my friends have done, but I’ve no room here…must quit this and read…thanks Coilhouse for staying relevant in my beautiful world.

By: Bunny

Bunny — Tue, 17 Jun 2008 23:17:42 +0000

This is an amazing piece! What an insightful interview with a really fascinating guy. I think this is a milestone for CH! IN general many “mainstream” artist interviews are mere Q&A retrospectives and thinly veiled ego massaging. I really felt like I got some insight in to Mothersbaugh here. I especially like his take on his music , commercials, and using art in support of commerce. I recall reading that Coil felt similiarly about creating mainstream content (scoring TV commercials) while also being so far removed from its center. Also, this article proves that owners and pets do share a resemblance.

By: Mer

Mer — Tue, 17 Jun 2008 22:34:05 +0000

Thanks for the erudite commentary, all three of you. I have to admit, I’m surprised D.A. Oh No’s interview hasn’t inspired MORE discussion. I think it’s one of the most substantial pieces we’ve had on CH. Our spy in NY already has several other interviews in the works, so check back often.

By: Final Assets

Final Assets — Tue, 17 Jun 2008 02:17:11 +0000

I read this thing first thing this morning, and I’ve been thinking about it all day. It was a lot to swallow on a Monday morning, but I’m ready to post my thoughts.

First of all, the interview itself brilliant. I love the fact that you asked in your preface, “Is it somehow different for people already rich and famous to ’sell out’? Is it inappropriate to question your heroes?” and then boom – you went ahead and asked those hard questions. This totally felt like a real, challenging interview… so many times these days interviews feel like there’s no real interaction between the interviewer and the person answering the question (possibly because it’s all done over email?) and this interview truly felt alive to me.

I like artists who are unashamed of their involvement with commercial advertising. On a basic level, a person has to make a living … I never blame artists for “selling out” because I know that the music industry is in a very difficult spot right now, and honestly, what would you have done if you were in their place? And when the artist makes that relationship between him/herself and the advertising world into a topic for discussion, like Mothersbaugh does here, it gets even more interesting. Marshall McLuhan once said, “Advertising is the greatest art form of the 20th century.” Now, in the 21st century, I feel like everyone (on both the transmitting and receiving end) is aware of this in a way that they weren’t 20, 40 years ago. What does this mean? Has this gradual realization by everyone made advertising more or less effective – in terms of art, and in terms of commerce?