Genius, Madman Or Sick Performer?

The Ancient Mariner

Ancient Mariner
Not sure if anyone here has heard of Justice Yeldham And The Dynamic Ribbon Device. He is a homeless live performer from Australia who makes music in a different way to the norm.

His setup consists of two contact mikes connected to a sheet of glass which is connected to several effects pedals. The mikes pick up vibrations rather than sounds, so when he moves the glass it changes the pitch. He starts off by licking it and pressing his face against it, before he starts crushing the glass on his face, screaming into it, chewing it, running the edges under his lips/nose and spreading the blood over the ever shrinking sheet of glass and his face until at the end he smashes the last shard he's holding over his head and walks offstage without saying a word. He does the show in bare feet, with no painkillers and never gets stitches after a performance (even though he's had several instances where he should have done).

There's videos/pictures/reviews at http://www.dualplover.com/justice.htm and http://www.myspace.com/justiceyeldham (don't click the links if you're squeamish, have a weak heart or can't stand the sight of blood)

But the question is... would you say he's a genius for his ideas (he's done other projects in the past including mixing with broken records on modified turntables which go up to 3000rpm), a madman for the way he risks his life at every show and the pain he puts himself through, or is he just a man who's a bit wrong in the head and wants a bit of attention? You can't deny what he's doing is original and, in my opinion, it's quite a clever idea...

Any opinions?
 
Well, AM, I didn't click the link. But it is definitely an interesting way to make music. I mean, he's probably a bit wrong in the head. But what genius's aren't? It has been said that there is a fine line between genius and madness. So if he is into a bit of pain, which is likely the answer here...and people are into watching it...why not? I don't expect to see him opening for Maiden anytime soon, though....[img src=\"style_emoticons/[#EMO_DIR#]/tongue.gif\" style=\"vertical-align:middle\" emoid=\":p\" border=\"0\" alt=\"tongue.gif\" /]
 
He's certainly original in his way to make music, but I would by no means call him a genius for that (a term I think is thrown around way too much nowadays).

I guess there are all kinds of weird people and I don't mind if someone likes to walk up on stage smash a sheet of glass over his face, as long as he doesn't hurt anyone else. The link you provided was enough for me to know I'd never watch him but there's always other weird people who enjoy watching people do stuff like that, so let them have their fun.
 
I know what you mean about the word 'genius' used too much... I probably wouldn't quite go that far but the ideas he uses are definitely new and original...

I'd probably go and see him live. It'd be an interesting and unforgettable experience to say the least.
 
It is deffinatly interesting, but I wouldnt say I enjoyed it...as I rule I dont take plesure in other peoples pain.
 
Why anyone would put themselves through this is beyond me. But, each to their own.
 
I think that people that are actually going to see him are as nuts as he is. I think those kind of people are only demanding attention and try to get it by doing ridiculous things and you should just ignore it. What is the fun of seeing someone smacking his face to a glass plate? You obviously don't go there for the music because if you want to hear decent music you go see a band or other persons that can play musical instruments.
I guess most people will use the fact that he's not in a mental healthy state as an excuse of seeing such an "excentric" act. But that way you are only contributing to his death. If you go see him he will keep doing it and die. If you don't go he'll stop and die too, only not due to bloodloss most likely.

I think it's not right. But I guess you already noticed that. He makes music that isn't even enjoyable to hear. Even less enjoyable to see and people are actually digging his grave by supporting him. I'll never contribute to such an act.
 
I like his music. I quite enjoy noise music. I'd go and see it not only for the show but also for the music. The heaviness of it is really something. Doesn't mean I'm nuts or mentally unstable...

With stuff like that, I take the heaviness to be the factor rather than the talent. And his music is much heavier than virtually any metal I've heard. I'd love to see it just for the fear element. All you can hear is distorted screaming and feedback at full volume and all you can see is some bloke smearing blood over a window pane... that'd just be strange! But if you saw ten artists-nine of them metal bands and one of them this bloke, you'd come out remembering him over the bands.

He seems in quite a healthy mental state as well. He says the adrenaline means he doesn't feel the pain. He said he's more likely to wince pulling a splinter of glass out of his face after the show than when he's running his lips across the edges of the glass during the show... It is dangerous, potentially fatal and stupid but the fact he's willing to risk that every time he performs shows how much he believes in what he's doing. If he was concerned he'd retire and concentrate fully on his record label...

Personally I'd love to see it. I find the music very interesting, the performance interesting and pretty original and maybe I am digging his grave but I don't care. He's doing the show, he's made the choice and he knows what he's doing to himself.

That's my opinion on him anyway.
 
At the risk of being labeled "closed minded", here goes:

I think it is sick. "Sick" is even still a too positive description for this. We are dealing with somebody who has a serious mental disorder and goes to publically torture himself. I am not shocked by what he does -I have seen much worse things- but I am disgusted. I feel sorry for him and believe he needs some treatment, if not for his own sake, then for everybody else's sake. Torturing oneself for his/her own pleasure is one thing, and none of my business. However, going out to the public and doing it for people to see is creating a big problem, because it also seems to attract people. Now, my very own personal opinion of people who enjoy this kind of thing is irrelevant here. However, by human nature, I believe that if he becomes more well-known, he will inspire other people to do similar things, and if it is being kept up, there exists the danger of making it socially acceptable. Now, I think that society has a low moral fiber already, but it doesn't need to get worse.

To sum it up, I think it is plain wrong.
 
I can see your point Perun. You're saying that people who see this will be more likely to go out and self-mortify [themselves] on their own time. Well, I would point out the numerous shows such as Jackass and Dirty Sanchez, where people frequently do insanely stupid things for the sake of being on TV. And the many TV prank shows are slightly sadistic, especially when people would (for example) run into a glass door and send it in. Naturally, the audience laughs at this. Personally, I think machoism is something in the 'blood', so to speak; if a young kind (okay, we're talking teenager here) saw this Australian and then decided to cut himself, well he's not going to do it again if he doesn't like it, 'Once bitten, twice shy'. Although I can see that if a child thinks he won't get hurt stabbing himself with a shard of glass because that 'Ozzie guy did it', it could backfire catastrophically. Remember the spate of incidents (many of which were no doubt urban myths) of children watching superman and then throwing themselves off (at the least) their sofas and sustaining injuries? Well, since this guy will probably be performing to older teenagers at the young end of his audience, I think they'll be responsible enough (haha!) to know that it's something they shouldn't try themselves. I don't think this one guy poses that much of a threat to our society. I might not agree with what he's doing, I certainly wouldn't stop him from performing if that's what he wants to do, and he can do it without doing himself or anyone else serious harm. But that's just my (and I shudder to use this expression) two cents. As usual, my completely liberal middle-of-the-road if-he-wants-to-that's-his-choice views make themselves known. [img src=\"style_emoticons/[#EMO_DIR#]/tongue.gif\" style=\"vertical-align:middle\" emoid=\":p\" border=\"0\" alt=\"tongue.gif\" /]
 
[!--quoteo(post=135563:date=Apr 24 2006, 08:14 PM:name=Silky)--][div class=\'quotetop\']QUOTE(Silky @ Apr 24 2006, 08:14 PM) [snapback]135563[/snapback][/div][div class=\'quotemain\'][!--quotec--]
Remember the spate of incidents (many of which were no doubt urban myths) of children watching superman and then throwing themselves off (at the least) their sofas and sustaining injuries?[/quote]
Reminds me of something I did as an 8 year old. Thought I was Batman, ran (with a cape) through the living room, tried to jump over the dog, the dog got up, I tripped over the dog and I ended up diving through the patio doors.

Needless to say, I spent the rest of the day in Casualty.
 
[!--quoteo(post=135623:date=Apr 25 2006, 10:26 PM:name=Albie)--][div class=\'quotetop\']QUOTE(Albie @ Apr 25 2006, 10:26 PM) [snapback]135623[/snapback][/div][div class=\'quotemain\'][!--quotec--]

Needless to say, I spent the rest of the day in Casualty.
[/quote]

What, as an extra? [img src=\"style_emoticons/[#EMO_DIR#]/tongue.gif\" style=\"vertical-align:middle\" emoid=\":p\" border=\"0\" alt=\"tongue.gif\" /] (in-joke for those of us with BBC)

I suppose the one problem with people demonstrating particular, ehm, 'talents', is that if a kid sees them, they're going to want to emulate them. Let's face it, the average 10 year old has the attention span of a schizophrenic cocker spaniel and the survival instincts of a suicidal fruit bat. If they see someone doing something they like without getting hurt, they'll automatically assume they can do it too without crippling themselves. Kids, it doesn't always work like that [img src=\"style_emoticons/[#EMO_DIR#]/happy.gif\" style=\"vertical-align:middle\" emoid=\"^_^\" border=\"0\" alt=\"happy.gif\" /]. And remember-pain is bad (unless you're a machoist, in which case you might want to seek medical help... :: )
 
[!--quoteo(post=135785:date=Apr 28 2006, 05:40 PM:name=Silky)--][div class=\'quotetop\']QUOTE(Silky @ Apr 28 2006, 05:40 PM) [snapback]135785[/snapback][/div][div class=\'quotemain\'][!--quotec--]
And remember-pain is bad (unless you're a machoist, in which case you might want to seek medical help... :: )
[/quote]Black Dragon may be reading this ::
 
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