There was a time in my life where very little mattered more than Wynne Greenwood. Though I never got to know her personally, I attended enough Tracy + The Plastics shows that I feel as though I do. I feel as though I know Wynne Greenwood in that way where maybe you feel like you know Drake because you’ve listened to his albums 155 times. Or in that way where you feel like you’re dating Justin Bieber because you’ve kissed the back of your hand while drunk at a bar and something in your brain whispered “You’re doing it. You’re actually kissing Justin Bieber right now.” I do not actually know Wynne Greenwood, but I feel as though she must be out there somewhere liking me because how could I like someone so much, for so long, and not have it be mutual. Reading this back, I guess I’m more or less like that guy who camped out in Lana Del Rey’s garage, stole her book, and left some love poems behind for her.
Tracy + The Plastics was (and is) a very popular electro band masterminded 100% by Wynne Greenwood playing three different characters: Tracy (vocals), Cola (Drums), and Nikki (keyboard.) The “band” existed as a touring and recording thing for several handfuls of years before Wynne put an end to the project in 2006 to focus on other pursuits. Since that time Wynne has been showing her specific blend of multi-media art, mostly very video centered, at galleries around the United States. Her most recent exhibit is called “Kelly” (PLEASE NOTE THAT THAT IS MY NAME!) and it’s housed at New Museum until January 10. Here’s the description of the exhibit via the New Museum site:
Naming a new, yet-to-be-imagined character orbiting beyond the Plastics’ cosmology, “Kelly” is an exhibition and a six-month residency at the New Museum in which Greenwood will premiere the complete, recently re-performed and newly mastered archive of Tracy + the Plastics’ performances. Bringing this archive into dialogue (EDITOR’S NOTE: OR, DYE A LOG) with more recent work exploring the artist’s interest in what she has called “culture healing,” “Kelly” will consider the poetics of the pause while mining electric gaps of meaning in conversation and offering possibilities for feminist, queer, and other experimental models of collaboration and dialogue. Greenwood’s residency will include a series of readings, panels, and performances that explore the exhibition’s themes of language and music. In conjunction with the exhibition, material from the historic New Museum exhibitions “Homo Video: Where We Are Now” (1986–87) and “Bad Girls” (1994) will be on view in the Museum’s Resource Center.
Spoiler: I have personally lived in New Orleans (and not Brooklyn) for the past six months and the fact that I can’t sprint out of my house to go see this right now fills me with a sense of unease. You have no excuse. Buy your tickets HERE right now.
Here’s some homework for you in the meantime so you’re good and ready to fully appreciate the exhibit.
Tracy + The Plastics tutorial:
Post Tracy + The Plastics Wynne Greenwood:
Keep track of Wynne Greenwood and all of her upcoming events via her Facebook page.