|
![]()
The Bad Son is a 1998 photo-book by Harmony Korine, made up of pictures of Macaulay Culkin and his then-wife Rachel Miner. The pictures arose from the filming of the music video for Sonic Youth's Sunday, which featured both Culkin and Miner. The pictures were exhibited at Korine's solo exhibition at the Taka Ishii Gallery, Tokyo, in 1998, and the book was at the same time published by Taka Ishii Gallery as a companion piece in a limited edition of 1,000. The book includes the following text by Korine, attributed to Culkin: I have never been one to enjoy watching cartoons. When I was a child, I read the book Oliver Twist and I liked it very much. My father was upset at me because he told me that a child my age should watch cartoons and not read books until I was the proper age. I began starring in movies when I was five years old. Most notably the Home Alone movies. It all happend very quickly. My fame at first was fun for me. It allowed me to run amok and make money acting and doing things that I did in real life. Once, I set my older brother on fire when he was asleep. I felt guilty because my brother suffered severe pain and agony. I was not trying to be mean. I was just born with a purpose.Excerpts from The Bad Son can be seen here
Dennis Cooper writing in ArtForum magazine: ...Korine's intentions regarding Culkin seem rather a consensual, even shy attempt to locate the former child star's current cultural value. If these fuzzy, low-key, poetic photographs cast Culkin as unwitting jailbait, they're nonetheless respectful of the studied goofiness and mild disinterest with which Culkin strikes Korine's mock-candid poses. An accompanying "autobiographical" prose poem, ostensibly written by Culkin, reveals him to be a far weirder cat than the images allow. The result, as in Korine's more complicated films, is less a voyeuristic exercise than a benign and resonant standoff between an artist who has an original feel for where meaning lies and a subject whose meaning leaves a lot to be desired... |
|