In 1999, Nick Cave invited Nina Simone to perform at the Meltdown Festival in London. After her set, musician Warren Ellis approached the stage and retrieved a piece of chewed gum Simone had stuck to a towel on her piano. This memoir tracks the life of that physical object over the next twenty years. Ellis chronicles how he preserved the gum in a Harrods bag, its eventual casting in silver and gold, and its transport to an exhibition in Denmark. The text examines the subjective value humans place on detritus and the way a person's presence can be tethered to a mundane item.
This book serves readers interested in the intersection of biography, material culture, and the creative process. It functions for those who collect memorabilia or find meaning in the artifacts of artistic performance. The reader understands how a single scrap of waste becomes a totem through the collective belief of fans and archivists. By the end, the audience sees a practical demonstration of how memory attaches to matter and why certain relics are maintained long after their biological creators have died.
- Published
- 2021
- Language
- EN
