Clayton’s Corner: Recap of the Acker Awards at Angel Orensanz

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[Photo: Hugh Burckhardt]Last Thursday night was the first annual Acker Awards, an event that is meant to celebrate avante garde arts amidst the perennial high tide of gentrification. But not just on the Lower East Side; San Francisco also has its own version.

Named for Kathy Acker – radical thinker, novelist, and performance artist – the idea for the Awards was spawned by author Alan Kaufman and neighborhood chronicler Clayton Patterson.

Patterson wrote the following in a recent article in the Villager:

We both agree that one of the major components that fueled so much of the creatively in New York City and San Francisco was the cheap rent and the chance to live an inexpensive lifestyle. And now gentrification has basically killed the muse. Our world has changed, so let’s find a way to bring recognition and honor to the creative individuals who inspired so much of what N.Y.C. represents and who have made, and continue to make, a significant contribution to our avant-garde culture.

Acker Awards are granted to both living and deceased members of the New York or San Francisco communities. The cities were chosen for their historic linkage as centers for the avant-garde. In time, though, communities in other cities will be asked to participate.

New York City awards recipients:

LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD: Barney Rosset and Fred Jordan

EDITORIAL: Ron Kolm and Jim Feast​

WRITERS: Richard Kostelanetz​, Peter Lamborne Wilson, John Strausbaugh

POETRY: Bob Holman, Steve Dalachinsky, Eileen Myles, Jim Brodey, Patricia Smith, Harry Nudel, Lionel Ziprin (Posthumous), Dorothy Firedman, Konstantin K.Kosminsky​

FICTION: Carl Watson, John Farris, Janice Eidus

NON-FICTION: Eddy Portnoy

THEATER: Judith Malina(The Living Theater), Crystal Field (Theater For The New City), Taylor Mead(Posthumous), Augusto Mecharize, Hapi Phace (Mark Rizzo), Tabboo Stephen Tashjian, Peter Kwaloff, James “Ethyl” Eichelberger

BIOGRAPHY: C.Carr

ART: Boris Lurie (Posthumous), John Evans, Jose “Cochise” Quiles, Elsa Rensaa, Dash Snow (Posthumous), Jerry Pagane, Anthony Dominguez, Peter Missing, Joe Coleman, Spider Webb

SCULPTURE: Angel Orensanz

PUBLISHERS: Dan Simon (SEVEN STORIES PRESS), Jim Fleming (AUTONOMEDIA)

PHOTOGRAPHY: Ira Cohen, Alice O’Malley, Paula Grimaldi-Reardon

PERFORMANCE: Tuli Kupferburg, Valery Oisteanu, Carol Braddock, Steve Ben Israel

VIDEO: Nelson Sullivan

FILM: Nick Zedd, Howard Guttenplan (Millenium Film Workshop), Michael Sladek (Plug Ugly Films), Chris Talbott (Silent Five Productions), MM Serra (FILMMAKERS COOP)

COMMUNITY SUPPORT: Patricia Parker (VISION FESTIVAL), Klara Palotai, Jody Weiner, Monica Ponomarev, Lia Gangitano,
Lucien Bahaj, Westly “Wes” Wood, Joseph “Cuz” Camarata

BUILDING PRESERVATION: Al Orensanz, (ORENSANZ FOUNDATION)

MUSIC: Danny “Lord Ezec” Singer, James “Jimmy G.” Drescher, Freddy “Madball” Cricien, William Parker, LAch Anti-Folk, Raymond “Raybeez” Barbieri (Posthumous), Joey Semz (Joe McCarthy)

VENUES: Steve Cannon (TRIBES), Hilly Crystal (CBGB), Maria Neri (ORENSANZ FOUNDATION)

HISTORIANS IN FILM: Jeremiah Newton, Eric Ferrara

The following images were shot by photographer Hugh Burckhardt.

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