The work of Brooklyn resident Joe Coleman (41) varies from Shock Art to bloody performances, and from underground cartoons to soapbox sermons. He is someone who publicly lets off explosives tied to his own body, predicts the end of the world and dubs the serial killer a new kind of artist. His incredibly detailed paintings are populated by abnormalities, deformities and fatal wounds. Robert Adrian Pejo’s documentary R.I.P. Rest in Pieces, is a film about him that also examines Coleman’s relationship with New York City. Coleman decided to agree to Pejo’s project after he had seen Der Weg nach Eden, a film by Pejo about autopsies in Budapest. Coleman had two requests before he agreed to cooperate on the film: that he could involve hisfavourite psychobilly musician Hasil Adkins in the project and that he might be allowed to do his own autopsy in Budapest. The film also includes relatives of Coleman, film-maker Jim Jarmusch, experimental film-maker Manuel de Landa, psychiatrist Martin Wilner and crime writer Harold Schechter. R.I.P. is an entertaining, informative film about an artistic form of expression as self-therapy and a radical reflection on the apocalypse.
