Life Vs Status Quo

Genesis Breyer P-Orridge Interviewed by Technoccult Part 2: Pandrogeny

(Last question of the interview. To see the whole interview click here.)

Looking back on your life, can you think of an example of a time that you changed your mind about something? That there was something that was significant to you that, you know, that you completely changed your opinion about?
Yes. When we began Throbbing Gristle we were, we being me, really angry about the inequities of society. Especially being from Britain, with the royal family and aristocracy and the really ingrained class system. Enraged by the inequity and the bigotry and the inherited privilege whether people have the skills or the qualities to exercise it.
So my approach to expressing the anger was very aggressive and enraged, furious. But over the years we’ve come to believe that there’s never a need for anger in order to demonstrate or propose change. That a friendly, seductive presentation is just as effective, if not more so. And also in a way it’s more insidious and subversive to smile and talk gently and still say something that contradicts everything somebody else has imagined to be the truth. It can be far more disturbing than screaming at them because we ought to learn how to deal with anger and screaming and defend ourselves from that. It’s really hard to accept confidence and know how to respond to it. It’s usually embarrassing. And so subtlety, instead of head-on collision, with the status quo.
But make no mistake, the status quo is always our enemy.