Susan Supercharged New Work

I Heart/Rob Flowers

One of my favourite pastimes is nicking flowers. As I see it, it allows me to look like a Bride everyday as I whizz through London on my get a way bike with a bouquet in hand. I have rules: No nicking from parks, public spaces or private homes. But if one of those lovely leafy gems sticks it head out past the borders its mine.

Being Jaded today in London

It's a funny ole thing life, innit? Today in London I passed the time in Portobello Road. It was pleasant and I enjoyed a falafel from Falafel King. I visited a sort of office now cum, "Rock N Roll Public Library". (2 Acklam Road, under the Wetsway). An installation of punk rellics from the basement/spare room of Mick Jones from the Clash. I can image his missus demanded he find a suitable place for the authentically musty detritus. Fans will love this installation, which today included the man himself Mr. Mick Jones, suitably weathered and Pistol Glen Matlock was also there. I didn't take a photo of Mr. Matlock, as I couldn't be bothered, and it really made me ponder about the construct of time. At one point in my life ( when? i guess when I was a kid in Milwaukee? ), I would have been choked with enthusiasm, delight and hero worship, but today like the colour of my eyes, I am wondering if I have just become jaded? It is cool to live in London and get to see lots of old punk/pop/rock stars..but when did they stop being important to me? Who would float my boat now? Something to think about, and I hope I meet Bowie in the street one day soon to see if my rock n roll heart is just a big block of ice and can it be melted?

I am an autodidact and proud of it

Andy Warhol and me, one of the last Warhol Superstars

Back in 1987, I had the great honour of working with Andy Warhol. I was doing some modelling and was asked up to the old Con Edison building to the FACTORY, to do some filming for Andy's new TV show on MTV called Andy Warhol's Fifteen Minutes. As a small town Mid West girl, this was a dream come true.You can tell that we took modelling very seriously back in the Eighties, and it was really hilarious to see people making fools of themselves because of Andy's presense. Most of the Eighties was like that, this weird " you're not on the A list, you're not getting in attitude". Anyway, all day long celebrities came and went in a swirl of 80's surreal madness. I vividly remember chatting with William Burrough's while he held a loaded pistol in his hand. He was very kind and looked exactly like my Grandfather. Andy was coming and going keeping a watchful eye on all the days proceedings. Me and another model Dovanna were put in a little back studio to change where there were numerous mao silkscreens waiting to be framed, the small size would have rolled up nicely into my skirt, but I was stopped by another model who was appalled at my behaviour. I think Andy would have approved of my crime. Anyway the program aired on TV on my birthday which is January 15th. I watched it with my ex boyfriend and his father, and I thought , " this is so cool, I have finally made it"...The thing about the show was that I had been yammering on the set with lots of overly excited ideas, under one of Andy's assistants came over and basically told me to shut the fuck up. In true Andy fashion , many of those little ideas were included in the final edit. I'm not trying to take credit, I just thought it was super interesting that he had been absorbing all of our conversations and mentally taking notes. I was asked to come back again, and told that he would call me, but about 3 weeks later I opened the New York Post and Andy was dead. Alot of my dreams died that day too, and I really wish I would have stolen the silkscreen. Here are some scene grabs from the show. Check out this website www.warholstars.org

Coney Island Baby

Back to Coney Island

Coney Island is a special place: selling fun mixed with the sinister. Like most things in New York its has been renovated and sanitized down to a Gap friendly world, and theres little left to the glory that was ASTROLAND, except it seems quite clear that most f the employess have done hard time. If you're in New York I strongly recommend a visit there, as it may be your last chance to grab some of the scuzzy glamour. The well publicized FREAK SHOW is disappointing, but the Freak Show that is the public and employees, never ceases to deliver. The day I visited I almost got to be involved with a fight at Nathan's.(Which is not an advertized feature). The Cyclone is still the scariest rollercoaster in the world...splinters of wood fly off as you tumble towards your death. Even the Wonder Wheel is terrifying. Coney Island's history is dark and dank. I would have loved to have seen it when it was a " midget village" featuring 300 little people. Its steeped in urban myths, with alot of fires and deaths in the past. You constantly have the feeling of wanting to get out of there quick, that a disaster is waiting to happen. All this charm is set to the background music of the best hip hop mixed with the carny's weird Burrough's -esque rants. There was a plexiglas box with some mangy old mannequin that was bent over a toilet vomitting and shitting water out of his/her ass. Sorry I didnt get a photo of that, I was like deer in the headlights of wonder and disgust and confusion. I couldn't operate the camera.I can't stop thinking about it. It worked on so many levels. Like many sites in Coney Island, it really made an impact on me. I remember one of my first visits in the 1980's, I went on the ghost train in Dante's Inferno. After a few minutes on a rickey old train track, with a psycho in a soiled mummy costume jumping out and poking us, we got to the main room. In the middle of the pitch black room was a broken down mannequin with a ratty wig bathed in black light and neon coloured clothes, and a big sign reading, " Cindy Lauper she's soooo unusual!"???? Typically Dantes Inferno burnt down (something is always on fire at Coney Island). One of the most cracked out places on earth.

Artist of the Day: POSTERBOY

Posterboy collages are smart, funny, beautiful and original. He is everything I love about art, he uses what's available, in a medium that is uniquely New York and uniquely Posterboy. These collages are made possible by the fact that there aren't tv eyes watching your every move like there are in London, and that advertising posters are essentially large stickers. I made a poor attempt at my own at the Bergen Street subway station, but these are Posterboy's, the master of the genre.

Maurizio Anzieri

I've seen a few shows of Maurizio Anzieri. I dig him.

I have Ideas, Big Ideas and I'm Committed to Them

The Writings on the Wall Part Two

All these photographs are my copyright from my brainbox eyeball. Please respect that. I try to give credit where credit is due/ ALWAYS/.

The Writings on the Wall

Here are my photographs of Street Art in New York City June 2009. I look for symbols and signs in everything. I hope God, Buddah, Allah, Jesus, Vishu or whoever else is running this damned world will let me know what to do next. Think you've got a clue, please let me know.