"They were one of those New York couples: good-looking and ridiculously gifted," wrote David Segal in the Washington Post of Theresa Duncan and Jeremy Blake, artists whose 12 year relationship ended in tragedy last month. Blake had designed colored vignettes for the film Punch Drunk Love as well as the CD art for Beck's Sea Change. His unique visual style earned him gallery shows around the world. "He was a great artist, an artist for the 21st century," said curator Jonathan Binstock. "He had his hand in music videos, in gaming, in Hollywood and in the world of contemporary art that you find in the best museums in the world. He didn't draw distinctions between those industries. He was brilliant, concentrated and deeply committed." Duncan designed CD-ROMs while maintaining the popular blog, Wit of the Staircase, a fascinating mix of pop culture and high art.Yet by the accounts of friends, the couple were also severely paranoid. Segal writes, "The two would describe plots by the government, plots by Scientologists, people tailing them, breaking into their home. All of it sounded so far-fetched that it was easy to think occasionally that they were kidding. They weren't."
Duncan killed herself with a mix of pills and alcohol. A week later, Blake drowned himself. Of his suicide note, a spokesman for the New York Police Department said, "It was basically about wanting to be reunited with Theresa Duncan. It referenced her suicide and said that he hoped to rejoin her." They will be missed.
Jeremy Blake's video for Beck's "Round the Bend":
1 comment:
How very sad.
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