A Generation in Transition, part 2, by Adam Lehrer

In the second part of these three part series, Adam looks at the transitions by Genesis P-Orridge, Lucy Sante, and Zoe DeWitt

Genesis P-Orridge

Let’s start with Genesis – arguably the most famous and inarguably the most culturally influential member of this rarefied list. Since and even before h/er (and yes, I feel absolutely retarded using Genesis’ preferred pronouns of “h/er and s/he” but I’m humoring it for the sake of this text) death in 2020, Genesis has been lavished with praise and attention from the international arts media. To be frank: much of this adoration is earned. Very few artists have had such a broad and multimedia influence on art and culture. As lead singer of Throbbing Gristle, Genesis contributed to the pioneering of industrial music and underground noise culture, inspiring legions of young artists to ditch paint brushes, typewriters or even instruments in favor of circuit boards and broken PA systems. The music made by Throbbing Gristle is undeniable – to this very day, it fucking scorches. Then of course, there was Psychic TV, Genesis’ shapeshifting industrial pop group and experimental TV producer, and Thee Temple of Psychick Youth, a collective spearheaded by Genesis as an outgrowth of Psychic TV that formed a cult of chaos magic around Genesis. Finally, there was Lady Jaye, the stripper that Genesis would visit at the club and coom to, only to somehow make her fall in love with h/er and, even more bizarrely, convince the young woman to undergo a series of demented, self-destructive, and shockingly experimental cosmetic and hormonal procedures along with h/er so that they could become the “pandrogyne” – a direct hybrid of both their bodies by altering themselves until they biologically matched each other. Two bodies, one gender. Or, whatever.