Corinne was the doyenne of what came to be called it grunge. She was genius at what Andy Warhol called “getting it exactly wrong.” The word grunge, apparently a meld of grubby and dingy – was borrowed by the press from a term in use to describe Nirvana, Pearl Jam, Soundgarden, Stone Temple Pilots, and […]
Glenn O’Brien on Corinne Day
Corinne was the doyenne of what came to be called it grunge. She was genius at what Andy Warhol called “getting it exactly wrong.” The word grunge, apparently a meld of grubby and dingy – was borrowed by the press from a term in use to describe Nirvana, Pearl Jam, Soundgarden, Stone Temple Pilots, and various other bands from the Pacific Northwest. Before the musical moment, grunge was just another word for filth, a sort of shabby persistent filth. After the musical moment it became another word for realism, a sort of dissident undercover form of beauty.
Ultimately Corinne returned to her world, a world “hors de commerce.” A world of friends and mates, not contacts. A world of dreamers. A world of originals, not copies. Not a world of conspicuous consumption and frenzied fashion but a world of “that’s good enough for me.” And that’s why these pictures look as fresh today as they did the day they were made – they are about the timeless quality of the real live moment and making it up as it happens.
Text by Glenn O’Brien, via AnOther.
Morel Books publishes May the Circle Remain Unbroken, a collation of Day’s early, personal work on April 28th.
Image above, Kate in jumper on chair, 1991 Photography by Corinne Day; From May the Circle Remain Unbroken, 2013. Image below, Corinne on sofa with feathers, 1998 From May the Circle Remain Unbroken, 2013.
