Genesis
Breyer P-Orridge – Artist, performer, writer, musician
Born
February 22, 1950; died March 14 2020
Breyer
P-Orridge and COUM were denounced by Conservative MP Nicholas Fairburn as
‘wreckers of civilisation’. This followed the opening of Prostitution, COUM’s
pornography-fused 1976 exhibition at London’s Institute of Contemporary Arts. Prostitution
also launched Throbbing Gristle, whose quartet of Breyer P-Orridge, Cosey Fanni
Tutti, Peter ‘Sleazy’ Chrisopherson and Chris Carter produced a form of confrontational
electronica that pioneered a genre named after the band’s record label,
Industrial, before imploding in 1981.
In 1992,
Breyer P-Orridge was exiled from the UK following false claims of ritual child abuse
in a later discredited Channel 4 film. More recently, Breyer P-Orridge embarked
with their wife, Lady Jaye Breyer P-Orridge, on the Pandrogyne Project, in
which both underwent extensive body modification to become physically matching,
non-gender specific beings. Following Lady Jaye’s passing in 2007, Breyer
P-Orridge documented their life together in Life as a Cheap Suitcase
(Pandrogeny and a Search for a Unified Identity), a major exhibition at
Summerhall as part of Edinburgh Art Festival. It was as much act of devotion to
Lady Jaye as art show.
In 2017,
former partner and band-mate Tutti laid bare a darker view of Breyer P-Orridge
in her acclaimed memoir, Art Sex Music. She outlined a manipulative and
exploitative figure, allegedly capable of psychological and physical abuse. In
one passage, Tutti described Breyer-P-Orridge dropping a concrete block from a
balcony, missing her by inches as it smashed to the ground. Breyer P-Orridge
dismissed the claims, though never formally challenged them.
Christened
Neil Andrew Megson, the boy who would grow up to reinvent themself several
times over was born in Manchester, and while at Solihull School became
fascinated by the occult and avant-garde art. At Hull University, Megson produced
counter-cultural magazines and organised sit-ins before dropping out to join
the Transmedia Explorations commune in London.
Back in
Hull, Breyer P-Orridge co-founded COUM, living communally and performing in
local pubs. In 1973, Breyer P-Orridge and COUM came to Edinburgh care of Richard
Demarco to perform their Marcel Duchamp inspired Art Vandals piece, in which
guests at the event were engaged in conversation as performers spilt food onto
the floor.
Breyer
P-Orridge took part in a short-lived Throbbing Gristle reunion in 2009, performing
their now lionised form of live-art music-theatre at Tramway in Glasgow before
leaving the group.
In an
interview with the Herald in 2014 prior to their Edinburgh exhibition, Breyer
P-Orridge’s attitude went counter to their reputation.
“We live
in a society that’s based on violence and war,” they said, “but what really
matters is how you relate to other people. We should be being kind and
compassionate, and discussing how we can be better people.”
Regarding
their work, Breyer P-Orridge maintained that “we’ve never wanted to shock. We
only ever wanted to seduce. That is the glue that holds everything together,
romantic love, and the fear that you might never meet that perfect other half.
But we were blessed.”
They are
survived by their daughters, Caresse and Genesse, with former wife Paula
Brooking, aka Paula P-Orridge.
The Herald, April 2nd 2020
ends
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