Just Kids by Patti Smith
Record I'm Listening To: Unlimited Love - Red Hot Chili Peppers
Beer I'm Enjoying: Bells Two Hearted IPA
I had no proof that I had the stuff to be an artist, though I hungered to be one.
My continued exploration into the origins of punk rock and the foundations of alternative music have yielded a world that is far more complex than I’d originally realised. For one thing, punk in the United States in the mid-late seventies was less about ‘sticking it to the man,’ than pushing the boundaries of creative expression and channeling that into music. Punk, I have come to learn, has much more in common with art and the avant-garde, than anti-establishment politics. At least, that’s how it started. And Patti Smith was right there at the beginning.
This is a remarkable memoir in which Smith chronicles much of her life from the late sixties through to the late seventies with particular attention paid to her relationship with artist, Robert Mapplethorpe. I picked up the book hoping to look for clues into what life might have been like in the underground New York punk scene, but little attention is paid to that component of Smith’s career. What I found instead was something that illustrated this lifestyle without the need to address is directly. A young girl who doesn’t want to go down the predetermined path laid out for her and instead willingly chooses a more difficult path by venturing to New York City alone. A chance encounter with another aspiring artist ends up setting the tone for launching both of their careers and the book carefully and intimately details their relationship, initially as a romantic one, that then evolves into a powerful friendship.
Early on there are a couple of situations where Smith and Mapplethorpe have to almost beg for food, work long and miserable hours for meager pay, and accept awful living conditions in apartments because they were the only affordable ones. All of it is tolerated for the pursuit of artistic vision. I was amazed at the number of examples in which the opportunity for comfort was subordinated to the dream of making art and the remarkable connection the two had to one another. For instance, Smith would frequently be the one working the extra job to ensure rent would be paid and food placed on the table so that Robert could then focus entirely on his creations. Then there are examples where this role is reversed and Robert works graveyard shifts to allow Smith to focus on her projects.
All this is taking place as the New York underground, under the leadership of Andy Warhol, is starting to blossom. He holds court in his infamous art studio, The Factory, entry of which is highly exclusive and subject to strict criteria. It is Robert who intensely desires entry into this world, the imagery of which is fantastically conjured up in the imagination through Smith’s writing. Not so much from what she saw, as much as writing about the excitement and other emotions it aroused in those around her who were caught up in the moment.
Smith was influenced by the 19th century French impressionist poet, Arthur Rimbaud, and refers often to his last major piece of work, Illuminations. She in fact visits Paris with her sister to get a feel for the city, attempting to look at it though the eyes of one of her greatest idols. There are photos throughout the book of her early poetry, and in the way she describes her writing discipline, I get the impression she wrote and practiced furiously – rarely indulging in any other form of instantly gratifying activity (she abstained completely from alcohol and drugs in spite of what was being consumed by others around her).
As a huge fan of the band, Television. I was curious as to the extent to which she would describe her relationship with Tom Verlaine. Maybe two or three pages about the band at a maximum, but nothing about her relationship with their front man. This was not to slight Verlaine in any way (who, interestingly took his stage name from another French impressionist poet, Paul Verlaine – who was Rimbaud’s lover), but simply because this book was her tribute to Mapplethorpe. By this stage in the book, he had come out at gay, and was starting to create all kinds of controversy with the photographs he was taking, depicting things that up until that point were considered highly inappropriate. Coincidentally, I wrote in my journal a paragraph related to this artistic expression, that is also featured on his Wikipedia page.
Robert took areas of dark human consent and made them into art. He worked without apology…he created a presence that was wholly male without sacrificing feminine grace. He was not looking to make a political statement…he was presenting something new…as he saw and explored it.
I think this perfectly illustrates the foundation of early punk rock in New York. And I would argue that alongside a strong love for a powerful friendship, this is one of the main themes of the book; Following through on a desire to create, simply for the thrill of making and sharing something new.
For me, this was one of those ‘unputdownables,’ and I attribute that firstly to the fact that I am very interested in this time of rock music history. But secondly, like her debut album, it's just brilliantly written. Patti Smith clearly had a lot of love for Robert Mapplethorpe. She promised him on his deathbed that she would write this story and it really highlights how crucial he was in her life. And whilst its a glowing tribute to Mapplethorpe, the book in no way comes across as a pumped up, gas inflated homage to someone’s ego. It’s simply a fantastic retelling of what sounded like a beautiful friendship.