Boyd Rice is the subject of a new documentary film, Iconoclast.

The controversial American artist – for which the word ‘iconoclast’ was seemingly custom-made- is widely regarded as one of the founding fathers of noise music, and along with the likes of Throbbing Gristle and Monte Cazzazza he was a key architect in the development of industrial music in the late 1970s and 1980s. However, Rice’s colourful life extends far beyond his experimental music interventions: over the years he’s owned and run a tiki bar, Tiki Boyd’s (as well as writing extensively on tiki culture, became a high priest of the Church of Satan, flirted disastrously with repurposed Nazi imagery, lectured at M.I.T., exhibited paintings, made a bona fide pop album (Seasons In The Sun, with Rose McDowell as Spell), presented Betty Ford with a skinned sheep’s head on a silver platter, co-wrote and edited RE/Search’s legendary Incredibly Strange Films book, starred in exploitation movie Pearls Before Swine, founded a Social Darwinist think tank called The Abraxas Foundation, appeared on evangelical Christian radio, filmed a programme about Rennes-le-Chateau for Fox TV, and researched Gnosticism, Grail legends and Merovingian lore to a genuinely academic standard.

“My life,” he says, “Is a testament to the idea that you can achieve whatever the hell you want if you possess a modicum of creativity, and a certain amount of naivete concerning what is and isn’t possible in this world. I’ve had one-man shows of my paintings in New York, but I’m not a painter. I’ve authored several books, but I’m not a writer. I’ve made a living as a recording artist for the last 30 years, but I can’t read a note of music or play any instrument. I’ve somehow managed to make a career out of doing a great number of things I’m in no way qualified to do.”

He is, as you can imagine, a documentary-maker’s dream subject. Larry Wessel‘s film, which premiered in 2010, was six years in the making, and the final edit is whopping 4 hours. It’s posited as “an in-depth expose of Boyd Rice’s life, career, and personal obsessions”, and is told primarily through Rice’s own words, with numerous additional interviews with his friends, foes and other commentators. including filmmaker Allison Anders, televangelist Bob Larson and satanist Blanche Barton.

Rice’s most revered musical project is NON, which began life as a group in the late 70s before very quickly becoming a solo vehicle. Most of NON’s releases over the years have come via London’s own Mute Records, and Rice recently performed live at the label’s 30th anniversary showcase at The Roundhouse earlier this year. He’s currently putting the finishing touch to a new album for the label, due for release in 2012.

Three screenings of Iconoclast are planned for August 2011, at the iconic Anthology Film Archive cinema in NYC (Aug 20, 21) and at the 12th Melbourne Underground Film Festival in Australia (Aug 24). More general info can be found at iconoclastmovie.com.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, August 2nd, 2011 at 12:43 pm and is filed under Latest, News and tagged with Boyd Rice, NON. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.