Other, Like Me

Marcus Werner Hed and Dan Fox have produced a documentary that chronicles the journey of one of the most radical, innovative, and significant artistic collectives of the past five decades, often regarded as forerunners of the woke movement.

In Hull, England, during 1970, a group of social outcasts-predominantly from working-class backgrounds and largely self-taught-formed a commune in a struggling port city. They adopted new personas and began creating straightforward street performances under the name COUM Transmissions. Their initially playful acts evolved into provocative works that openly addressed themes of sex, pornography, and violence. Living on the fringes of society, COUM relied on scant resources and found camaraderie with others who were marginalized by mainstream culture. Central to this group were two artists, Genesis P-Orridge and Cosey Fanni Tutti. As their artistic expression matured, Cosey ventured into modeling for adult magazines, which she reframed as a form of conceptual art, using it to carve out a distinct stance within the context of 1970s feminism. Meanwhile, Genesis pushed the boundaries of performance, exploring the limits of the human body.

It is widely acknowledged that COUM Transmissions burst forth from Hull into a nation unprepared for their audacity. By merging confrontational performance art with the intense industrial music they essentially pioneered, Genesis P-Orridge, Cosey Fanni Tutti, and their associates shocked the British public in the 1970s-most notably during their groundbreaking 1976 ICA exhibition, Prostitution, which remains a contentious milestone in post-war British art.

Now, 45 years later, COUM Transmissions and Throbbing Gristle continue to resonate powerfully. Through a combination of original interviews and rare archival footage, Hed and Fox have finally shared their unique narrative. While I may not fully align with their philosophy, I appreciate their assertion that "None of us should accept what we were told..." and the idea that "YMarcus Werner Hed and Dan Fox have produced a documentary that chronicles the journey of one of the most radical, innovative, and significant artistic collectives of the past five decades, often regarded as forerunners of the woke movement.

In Hull, England, during 1970, a group of social outcasts-predominantly from working-class backgrounds and largely self-taught-formed a commune in a struggling port city. They adopted new personas and began creating straightforward street performances under the name COUM Transmissions. Their initially playful acts evolved into provocative works that openly addressed themes of sex, pornography, and violence. Living on the fringes of society, COUM relied on scant resources and found camaraderie with others who were marginalized by mainstream culture. Central to this group were two artists, Genesis P-Orridge and Cosey Fanni Tutti. As their artistic expression matured, Cosey ventured into modeling for adult magazines, which she reframed as a form of conceptual art, using it to carve out a distinct stance within the context of 1970s feminism. Meanwhile, Genesis pushed the boundaries of performance, exploring the limits of the human body.

It is widely acknowledged that COUM Transmissions burst forth from Hull into a nation unprepared for their audacity. By merging confrontational performance art with the intense industrial music they essentially pioneered, Genesis P-Orridge, Cosey Fanni Tutti, and their associates shocked the British public in the 1970s-most notably during their groundbreaking 1976 ICA exhibition, Prostitution, which remains a contentious milestone in post-war British art.

Now, 45 years later, COUM Transmissions and Throbbing Gristle continue to resonate powerfully. Through a combination of original interviews and rare archival footage, Hed and Fox have finally shared their unique narrative. While I may not fully align with their philosophy, I appreciate their assertion that "None of us should accept what we were told..." and the idea that "YOU DO NOT NEED A PERMISSION." Their rebellious creative spirit is commendable, though it is unfortunate that they only briefly mentioned the negative spirits that also became involved.

It was a difficult and contentious subject that was addressed effectively!.

This is an actually interesting documentary about the people who were involved in the musical group Throbbing Gristle, who are now viewed as forefathers of electronic music. I describe them in this way because what this documentary isn't is a doc about a musical group. Its more a background and brief introduction to the art collective that existed long before any musical instruments were picked up, called Coum Transmissions. The problem this documentary has is there is really no way to scratch the surface of the group in such a short space of time. Particularly when using a talking heads approach. This is evident to anyone who has read Cosi's book, while some of the main events are touched on, there is little depth. There is also not much in discussed in terms of music production, which is one of the key areas of interest to many.

On the plus side there is little fat in this doc, it flies past very quickly but leaves you none the wiser about who the people are or what they were actually about. I would even go so far as to say that it may not make much sense if you didn't already know the story. Ignore any scores for this above a six, that is just fans of the band who are obviously starved of new content from them for obvious reasons. Another plus of this doc is it doesn't try to ram any political ideas down peoples throats, about identity etc. The people are who they are and it doesn't need discussion or any forcing of ideas. They were a weird bunch based on what they did, most of which isn't of interest to people who liked their music. Maybe this should have been focused on TG as opposed to being a complete but shallow history of them from their activist artists days.

This documentary is a wonderful introduction to the work of some of the greatest artists of all time -- and it is important, insofar as there is a major lack of availability of information on this work available today. The producers have done a magnificent job in gathering obscure footage and photography and narratives, and made excellent decisions on the score.

In my ideal world, the producers of this doc would deliver another 10 hours of content and go even deeper into the various subjects -- I could watch a whole documentary just on the story of "Live at Oundle School", or the London Fields years, or the technical side of TG's music, or Prostitution, etc.

So - awesome work that made me contemplate what is possible for me and for the world, and left me wanting more!