A.Y.P.S. – Terence Hannum

Published by Kiddie Punk – 2013 – USA17 x 24 cm – 100 pages in b&w – Perfect-bound book”A.Y.P.S.” collects three years of drawings, collages and brief negative texts by artist and musician Terence Hannum. “Anno Yersinia Pestis Spiritus” or “In The Year of our Spiritual Plague”, was a rare phrase used in the liner notes of black metal albums during the 1990s. Hannum has spent years reflecting on this music subculture – a subculture that vacillates between what is profane and sacred, and how in that abject shadow of the profane, something uniquely sacred is defined. Halos of hair emerge from dark voids, shrines of amplifiers build altars to silence, cascades of xeroxed hair interrupt the page and brief collections of words and phrases are presented and crossed out. The ritual gets fragmented and boiled down, rebuilt and then re-worshiped. Also included is an interview with the artist conducted by American poet, author and playwright Kevin Killian.