Genesis P-Orridge is one of the most visionary cultural engineers and psycho-nauts of the late 20th Century. His vast output of multimedia work and artistic creations ranks with such counter-culture icons as William S. Burroughs, J.G. Ballard, Paul Laffoley and Joe Coleman in their enduring impact.
P-Orridge's radical exhibitions and performances first came to public prominence via COUM Transmissions, a loose artistic posse that experimented with avant-garde art and confrontational performance throughout 1967-77. Their most notorious show was the Institute of Contemporary Arts (ICA) retrospective titled "Prostitution". held in October 1976, which angered British parliament.
But ever the chameleon, P-Orridge was already working on a new guise. Coining the term 'industrial music' in 1975, P-Orridge inaugurated the music genre through the Industrial Records label and as member of Throbbing Gristle (TG), whose studio and live albums influenced many artists, notably Ministry, Marilyn Manson, Nine Inch Nails and the Chicago-based Wax Trax label. TG experimented with industrial imagery, sound cut-ups and confrontational improvisatory live performances. They split-up on the verge of US stardom, P-Orridge already sickened by the beckoning commercialization of the genre. Industrial Records, the label formed by the group, released early material by Monte Cazazza, William S. Burroughs, Cabaret Voltaire, SPK and ClockDVA.
With the TG mission terminated, the collaborative project Psychic TV (PTV) formed soon afterwards, experimented with early hyperdelic multimedia performances. P-Orridge collaborated with early rave/acid house organisers throughout American and Europe. PTV recordings sampled William S. Burroughs, the Master Musicians of Jajouka, the Church of Satan and the Process Church of the Final Judgement to create powerful aural sigils. PTV recording output is multi-phased and complex, achieving critical acclaim by merging 1960s experimental consciousness with contemporary influences.
An important spinoff component of PTV was Thee Temple ov Psychick Youth (TOPY) served as the vehicle for P-Orridge to explore pro-sexual self-liberation philosophies through a non-hierarchical anti-cult over ten years. TOPY featured in Douglas Rushkoff's seminal books Cyberia: Life In The Trenches of Cyberspace (San Francisco: HarperCollins, 1994) and Media Virus! Hidden Agendas in Popular Culture (New York: Ballantine Books, 1994), and the network captured the experimental zeitgeist that was later to bloom into early 1990s hedonistic cyberculture. An example of his postmodern magick influences is the Splinter Test text, which explores sampling and artistic essence snapshots.
P-Orridge experimented with tantra, body-piercing and Modern Primitives memes. Although now hip, these practices attracted negative publicity and scrutiny for many years.
In February 1992 whilst in Nepal, P-Orridge was the focus of Satanic Ritual Abuse scam allegations when a British television crew used a Psychic TV performance video in a documentary. Police raided his house and seized previous archival projects (including unreleased Derek Jarman and William S. Burroughs material), and warned P-Orridge he would be imprisoned if he returned.
Exiled in San Francisco, P-Orridge collaborated with Timothy Leary on multimedia performances and wrote Thee Psychick Bible (1995).
He continued collaborating with many seminal artistic figures of the late 20th Century and has appeared on recordings by Hawkwind, Pigface, Download and Merzbow. P-Orridge's art criticism has appeared in Art & Artists, Studio International and Flashart. Live music appearances were halted after P-Orridge was injured whilst escaping Rick Rubin's house during a fire.
P-Orridge was recently the subject of Simon Ford's book Wreckers of Civilization (1999), which foreshadowed his triumphant return to England in a series of live music and spoken word performances. His current projects include the new band Thee Majesty, researching Breaking Sex and compiling the definitive Psychic TV Origin of the Species archives.
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