ire of the senses

HE DEAD-END job,

the unfulfilled rela-’

tionship or the gener-
alized angst may continue,
-but you can control the last
_ vestige of your ever shrink-
_‘ing empire: your body,” an-
~ thropologist Alan M. Klein
‘writes in a‘recent article i in
The Sciences.

ironically, he’s not talking about
‘the overexposed bodies of
“women; abjectified in our culture -
“as much by ant as‘by advertising,
“but about male body-builders.

‘“Steroid-rage’’ notwithstan-
“ding, the implications of the
: ultimate-battleground for self-con- .
trol being the body itself are still
“distinctly more sinister for women
than for men.

Despite Margaret:Atwoad's
rescient tale The Edible: Woman, .
nd later Bodily Harm, surprisingly

few women writers have embrac-
ed the body asa direct physical .
metaphor.:.
‘Subjects like. anorexia nervosa,
bulimia; and women’s physical
elf-image have largely been left to.
gender-politicized harangues,.
culture-analyses like Naomi... 7
Wolff's :The Beauty Myth, ‘and the | ;
tender | mercies of talk-show. hosts
and “\’women's’’ ‘Magazine :

still. 8 time w of = womes
marginalized’. Kathe Koja. has a’.
more legitimate beef than most. :
Her third novel, Skin, is being.
marketed as a, “horror, novel.!
While her prose occasionally:
turns as purple as‘a major contu-"
: sion, ’ Skin is reaily a complex *
ovel about .“‘the-body-as-art!!
“and “‘taking back the body’ as a-
political and artistic ‘act of _

' novel, Beauty;

John’ Moore
BOOK REVIEW

rebellion.
Two women, metal-sculptor Tess

" Bajak and dancer Bibi Bloss, meet

and electrify each other like twin
brides of Frankenstein.
Together they form a perfor-

mance art troupe, The Surgeons of

The Demolition, that hits new
nadirs in shock-art.

‘When Bibi becomes increasingly
immersed in the public.“‘blood-
* lettings’ of the ““body-piercing’’
scarification sub-culture for whom

- she becomes a sort of punctured
‘Madonna, their love for each other

takes an antagonistic turn, com-
plicated by a parasitic man who,
unable to create himself, feeds on
the creative energies of others like
an esthetic vampire. ..

Yes, the novel careens to the in-
: evitable (predictable) horrific con-

“clusion, but the lasting horror of
Skin is less a result of what hap-

pens than of the bizarre yet in-

f _ escapable logic of why it happens.

‘En route, Koja sets new stand- -

ards of gritty realism that pours

buckets of cold rusty water on no-

- tions that there.is anything roman- .
; tic about living in a warehouse/
~ loft/studio:

Brian D’Amato ventures on to:
the same ground with his first.
but the Manhattan

 studiollofts of his world (he is an
. artist-and a contributor to Flash Art,

Air Canada, Series takes’ wing with

» what the Chicago ‘Tribune called “¢

enol |

magazine) are an expensive cab
ride uptown from Tess Bajak’s in-
dustrial workspace.

Jamie Angelo inhabits the kind
of “Paradise loft’’ you only see in
movies where nobody is cast as
the landlord.

Atleast D'Amato admits not
even a moderately successful artist
like Jamie could afford the rent on

this joint; thus Jamie, a former
pre-med student with connections,
supplements his income by per-
forming unlicensed experimental
cosmetic surgery on the wanna-be
rich and famous.

When he meets a promising
performance artist, offers her
Faust’s bargain and transforms her
into his own greatest work, the
professional celebrity ‘‘Minaz,’’
you can figure out the rest of this

latant rip-off of Mary Shelley’ s.
classic modern myth if you've
stayed up and watched a few
Roger Corman movies.

As a writer, D'Amato qualifies to
sharpen Koja’s pencils.

Like so many scribbling worms
in the Big Apple, he makes up for
what he lacks in style with style —

‘extensive name-dropping about

where he gets his bruschetta, his
underwear, his nostril-tweezers.
He knows you really.care.

See Skin page 30

NEWS photo Mike Wakeliald

QUT OF her studio and into the Seymour Art Gallery is North
Shore painter Patricia Johnston and her show, Through An-
cient Eyes. The show opens today. and runs until Feb. 13.

mT
~ boys
stiurte
with strong:
Mainland kame oye
enior
ase i Cena

Buskelb:
e? final ga

Invitariongts
ent with a7

f° the most’ formidable fingers around.”
Dazzling pianist Jon Kimura Parker joins
Mus Director Sergiu Comissiona, who
has’ critics saying that VSO now stands for:

« Vigourous Standing Ovation? Come bear
“the light Classics i as you like them. The Air,
“Canada 'Classie Fi avourites series is a

; Hight of pure passion. Indulge. a "

Firefighters
The final 2a
Windsor of

The wide world of sports brings out the best .
and worst in fans and athletes alike.
Starting next Wednesday, Jan. 26, we bring you __
a “VIEW FROM THE CHEAP SEATS”, a weekly look
at the world of sports from a fan’s perspective. «
We'll take a look at issues on the North Shore, and we'll also
-venture further afield into the world of professional sports.

OnPHEUM THEVERE

Thursday, Jan. 27 at 8 pm
Friday, Jan, 28 at 8 pm
: Saturdey, Jan. 29 at Bpm

Oh’ PrnowerSun

Mesfin Spansar

4

®

7 AIR CANADA
Series Spautsor

For tickets eal] the Symphony (otline at 876-3434
or TicketMaster af 280-33 11.

SERRTU COMISSIONS, Masie Dirrctur i. : i 4

_ Anon Spiny Or chestny

THE VOICE OF NORTH AND WEST VANCOUVER

Once is ve

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