Bob Flanagan | |
|---|---|
| Born | (1952-12-26)December 26, 1952 |
| Died | January 4, 1996(1996-01-04) (aged 43) |
| Resting place | Forest Lawn Memorial Park (Long Beach) |
| Known for | sadomasochism,performance art,cystic fibrosis activism |
| Notable work | Why,Visiting Hours,SICK |
| Spouse | Sheree Rose (1989–1996) |
Bob Flanagan (December 26, 1952 – January 4, 1996) was an Americanperformance artist and writer known for his work onsadomasochism and living withcystic fibrosis.
 | This sectionneeds additional citations forverification. Please helpimprove this article byadding citations to reliable sources in this section. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed.(November 2016) (Learn how and when to remove this message) |
Flanagan was born inNew York City on December 26, 1952, and grew up inCosta Mesa, California, with his mother, Kathy; father, Robert; brothers John and Tim; and sister, Patricia. In childhood, Flanagan was diagnosed withcystic fibrosis. His sister, Patricia, died at age 21 of the same illness, which also claimed the life of his second sister, who died soon after birth. At age 14, in 1967, Flanagan was named the firstposter child for the NorthOrange County chapter of theNational Cystic Fibrosis Research Foundation.[1]
Flanagan graduated fromCosta Mesa High School,[2] and studied literature atCalifornia State University, Long Beach and theUniversity of California, Irvine.[when?] He moved to Los Angeles in 1976.[3]
Flanagan began reading his poems around Southern California in the mid-1970s, and was part of the poetry community atBeyond Baroque Literary Arts Center. He published his first book,The Kid is the Man, with Bombshelter Press in 1978.[4]
Flanagan metSheree Rose in 1980,[5] and collaborated closely with her for the rest of his life. Through the 1980s, Flanagan and Rose focused onBDSM community education and organizing, and were founding members of the Los Angeles chapter of theSociety of Janus. Their work in performance art began with the 1989 pieceNailed, presented in conjunction with the release of theRE/Search publicationModern Primitives.[6] InNailed, Flanagan nailed hispenis andscrotum to a board while singing "If I Had a Hammer."[7]
Visiting Hours, first shown at theSanta Monica Museum of Art in 1992, combined text, video, and live performance, and explored the convergence of illness and SM. It was Flanagan's most widely toured museum exhibition. In the center of the gallery, Flanagan lay in a hospital bed and interacted with museum visitors for the duration of the exhibit.[8] According to curator Laura Trippi, "The installation is designed like a crazy stage set of a children's residential hospital, replete with a torture chamber lurking amidst the institutional cheer."[9]
In 1996, Flanagan received the Steve Maidhof Award for National or International Work from theNational Leather Association International.[10]
Flanagan is featured in the widelybanned music video for the song "Happiness in Slavery" byNine Inch Nails. In the video, a nude Flanagan is bound to a mechanical torture device which pierces his flesh, pulls on his nipples and penis with pincers, crushes his genitals with a paddle, and ultimately kills him. Apart from his onscreen "death", all of the acts inflicted on Flanagan in the video are unsimulated.
In 1993, Flanagan appeared in the video for theDanzig song "It's Coming Down". In the uncensored version of the video (near the ending), Flanagan pierces his upper and lower lips together and then he hammers a nail through the head of his penis before bleeding on the lens of the camera recording him.
Flanagan also had a small role inGodflesh's "Crush My Soul" video, as an upside-down suspended Christ, hoisted on to the ceiling of a church bySheree Rose.
On January 4, 1996, Flanagan died from complications due tocystic fibrosis at 43.[3] He was survived by his wife and close artistic collaboratorSheree Rose.[11] His body now lies in the chapel ofForest Lawn Cemetery.[12]
The final years of Flanagan's life, including his death, are the subject of theKirby Dick documentarySICK: The Life & Death of Bob Flanagan, Supermasochist. Flanagan's participation in the film was contingent upon his death being part of the completed project.[13]
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| Academics | |
| Artists | |
| People | |
| Other | |
