Peter Sotos Explained
| Peter Sotos |
| Caption: | Sotos in 1985 |
| Birth Name: | Peter Gus Sotos |
| Birth Date: | 17 April 1960 |
| Birth Place: | Chicago, Illinois, United States |
Peter Sotos (born April 17, 1960) is an American author and musician, well known as a former member of the British noise music band Whitehouse. In his books, Sotos writes about sadistic sexual criminals and sexually violent pornography in great detail, particularly involving children. His books tend to be first-person narratives, taking on the point of view of the sexual predator in order to portray sadistic and pedophilic sexual impulses. Sotos was arrested in 1985 on child pornography charges due to content that was published within an issue of his zine Pure.
Biography
Education
Sotos is a graduate of Holy Cross High School. He attended Northern Illinois University for one year and studied at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago for four years.
Books
- Lazy (1999) examines the public fascination with sex crimes and their influence on art works such as the painting Myra by Marcus Harvey.
- Selfish, Little (2004) recounts the murder of Lesley Ann Downey by British Moors Murderers Ian Brady and Myra Hindley in 1964.
- Predicate (2005) explores the Dunblane Massacre in Scotland in 1996 and the motives and life of its perpetrator, Thomas Watt Hamilton. Other topics covered include Operation Ore, Operation Cathedral, Russian orphanages, Megan's Law, and non-nude teen websites.
- Comfort and Critique (2005) explores the hidden motives of reporters and citizens as shown by their reactions to sexual crimes.
- Show Adult (2007) investigates the experience of pornography. The book also analyzes the TV shows Supernanny and To Catch a Predator as publicly acceptable forms of child pornography.
- Lordotics (2008) deals with sex offenders and the art of photography.
- Pure Filth (2012) details transcripts of the gonzo movies porn star Jamie Gillis produced during the 1990s. Gillis adds an introduction to each transcript. Sotos, who was a friend of Gillis, brings his own perspective to these records. The book was completed a few days before Gillis died in February 2010.
- Desistance (2014) is focused on the works of French photographer Antoine D'Agata.
- Ingratitude (2018) is a monologue.
- Lionel Maunz Peter Sotos (2021) is a collaboration with the titular contemporary artist.
Musical and artistic endeavors
From 1983 to 2003, Sotos was a member of the British power electronics trio Whitehouse, where he performed using an EDP WASP synthesizer.[1]
In 1992, Sotos released the solo album Buyer's Market, which consisted of sound collages of spoken word samples from parents, law enforcement officers, and victims of sex crimes, including child sexual abuse.[2] The album was produced by Steve Albini.[3] Sotos also released Proxy[4] and Waitress[5] in 2005.
Peter Sotos makes video collages and notably presented Waitress I, II, and III at the Palais de Tokyo in April 2005.[6] A selection of Sotos' paper archives was shown for the first time in 2017 at the New Galerie in Paris.
Legal issues
In 1984, while the day-care sex-abuse hysteria phenomenon was sweeping the nation and while attending the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, Sotos began producing the controversial magazine Pure, notable as the first zine dedicated to serial killer lore. The original publications are now collectors' items.
In addition to offering many details about the crimes of serial killers and pedophiles, the text in the magazine praises them, describing them using such terms as "genius," "glorious," "exemplary," and "illustrious" and stating that child abuse is a "sublime pleasure."[7] The text is juxtaposed with pictures and newspaper clippings relevant to the crimes discussed. A short manifesto introducing the first issue says the magazine "satiates and encourages true lusts."
A photocopy from a magazine of child pornography was used as the cover of issue #2 of Pure, which led to Sotos pleading guilty to possession of child pornography in 1985 and receiving a suspended sentence. A copy of the magazine was found by Scotland Yard in Edinburgh, in the home of a suspect in a series of child abductions, murders, and grave robberies, which led to Sotos' arrest.[8]
Personal life
Sotos cites radical feminist Andrea Dworkin and French writer Marquis de Sade as his main literary influences.[9]
Steve Albini, who produced the album Buyer's Market for Sotos, described Sotos as a friend and a former influence while speaking to MEL Magazine in 2021. He said, "A lot of his writing is extremely difficult to read. It's repellent. You're brought into the mind of a sadist, pretty convincingly. And I feel like that experience, reading that stuff, is shocking to your core in the way that the horrors of the reality of those things should be."[10] On another occasion, he wrote: "Peter Sotos is a lovely fellow whom I trust implicitly, despite his writing evoking a truly primal disgust in me."[11] Jamie Stewart from Xiu Xiu has mentioned Sotos as an influence.[12] [13] [14] [15]
Works
- Pure, 1984–1985, Self-published and released two issues, with a third having been completed before controversy of publication led to a now-infamous trial.
- Parasite, 1993–1995, Self-published twenty issues.
- Total Abuse: Collected Writings, 1984–1995: Pure, Tool, Parasite, 1995 (Goad to Hell Enterprises,)
- Index, 1996, Printed in 1998 (Creation Books,)
- Special, 1998 (Rude Shape,)
- Lazy, 1999 (Creation Books,)
- Tick, 2000 (Creation Books,)
- Selfish, Little: The Annotated Lesley Ann Downey, 2004 (Void Books,)
- Proxy: Peter Sotos Pornography 1991–2000, 2005 (Creation Books,). A compendium of five of Sotos' works (Tool, Special, Tick, Index and Lazy). First edition, with CD by Sotos and Steve Albini.
- Comfort and Critique, 2005 (Void Books,)
- Predicate, 2005 (Creation Books,)
- Waitress, 2005 (Creation Books). Came as an extra for those who preordered a copy of Predicate from Creation Books.
- Show Adult, 2007 (Creation Books,)
- Waitress, 2007 (Creation Books). Separate volume from the one included with Predicate. Came with orders of Show Adult in hardcover.
- Lordotics, 2008 (Creation Books,)
- Perfect: The Collected Peter Sotos Volume One, 2009 (Creation Books,)
- Waitress, 2009 (Creation Books). Third in a series of additional material offered in limited editions from Creation. Came with pre orders of Perfect.
- Public: The Collected Peter Sotos Volume Two, 2009 (Creation Books,)
- Waitress, 2009 (Creation Books) Fourth in a series of additional material offered in limited editions from Creation. Came with pre orders of Public.
- Private: The Collected Peter Sotos Volume Three, 2009 (Creation Books,)
- Waitress, 2009 (Creation Books). Fifth in a series of additional material offered in limited editions from Creation. Came with pre orders of Private.
- Kept: The Collected Peter Sotos Volume Four, 2010 (Creation Books,)
- Waitress, 2010 (Creation Books). Sixth in a series of additional material offered in limited editions from Creation. Came with pre orders of Kept.
- Mine, 2011 (Creation Books, reprinted in paperback by Nine-Banded Books in 2013,)
- Pure Filth, 2012 (Feral House,) with Jamie Gillis.
- Tool, 2013 (Nine-Banded Books,). First printing as a stand-alone volume.
- Home, 2013 (Kiddiepunk) with images by Michael Salerno.
- Desistance, 2014 (Nine-Banded Books,)
- Ingratitude, 2018 (Nine-Banded Books,)
- Lionel Maunz Peter Sotos, 2021 (Nine-Banded Books & Amphetamine Sulphate,)
- Missed. Better Still., 2022 (Amphetamine Sulphate,)
- 1. Obviates: Predicate, Show Adult (2004–2006), 2023 (Amphetamine Sulphate,)
- Kee MacFarlane, 2024 (Nine-Banded Books)
Discography
| Year | Album name | Album details |
|---|
| 1992 | Buyer's Market | - Label: AWB Recording
- Format: CD
|
| 2005 | Proxy | - Label: Creation Books
- Format: CD
|
| 2005 | Waitress | - Label: Creation Books
- Format: CD[16]
| |
In popular culture
In the 2015 film Love (2015), director Gaspar Noé shows Lazy, one of Sotos' books, on the hero's bookshelves.[17] The American writer is also thanked in the closing credits.[18] [19]
External links
Notes and References
- Web site: compulsiononline.com: Whitehouse, Live Action 86, Red Rose Club, London, live review . 2024-12-25 . www.compulsiononline.com.
- https://www.discogs.com/fr/Peter-Sotos-Buyers-Market/release/510612: Discogs: Buyer's Market by Peter Sotos
- https://www.reddit.com/comments/td90c/I_am_steve_albini_ask_me_anything I am Steve Albini, ask me anything
- https://www.discogs.com/Peter-Sotos-Proxy/release/1072138 Discogs: Proxy by Peter Sotos
- https://www.discogs.com/fr/Peter-Sotos-Waitress/release/1100631 Discogs: Waitress by Peter Sotos
- Web site: Palais de Tokyo: Program from April 13 to 30, 2005 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20180715123537/http://archives.palaisdetokyo.com/fr/docu/tokyonews/71/tokyonews71.html . July 15, 2018 . July 22, 2018.
- Web site: December 6, 1985 . $100,000 BOND IN CHILD PORNOGRAPHY CASE . April 25, 2024 . . en-US.
- News: Linnet . Myers . Dave . Schneidman . December 6, 1985 . $100,000 Bond in Child Pornography Case . Chicago Tribune.
- Web site: January 21, 2006 . Peter Sotos Interview – Hoover Hog . May 5, 2024 . en-US.
- Web site: Burnett . Zaron III. November 8, 2021 . 'I'm overdue for a discussion about my role in inspiring 'edgelord' shit': a conversation with Steve Albini . 2024-05-16 . . en-US.
- Web site: 9 August 2011 . Steve Albini doesn't like Odd Future (read his reasons why) . 2024-05-16 . . en-US.
- Web site: Pitchfork: "An Interview with Xiu Xiu" (April 9, 2006) . . February 21, 2016 . February 9, 2016 . https://web.archive.org/web/20160209035401/http://pitchfork.com/features/interviews/6305-xiu-xiu/ . dead .
- http://www.stereogum.com/8279/xiu_xiu_michael_gira_cover_queen_bowie/tour-dates Stereogum: "Xiu Xiu & Michael Gira Cover Queen & Bowie" (February 29, 2008)
- http://www.sfbg.com/2010/03/16/incredibly-filthy-truth San Francisco Bay Guardian: "In the Weirdness of Xiu Xiu" (March 16, 2010)
- http://www.undertheradarmag.com/interviews/2014_artist_survey_xiu_xiu Under the Radar: "2014 Artist Survey: Xiu Xiu" (January 28, 2015)
- http://www.newgalerie.com/?page=exhibitions&id=54 New Galerie presents What's Up Doc?
- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r9jEyTQUEgE YouTube: "Omi Is Pregnant", excerpt from Love by Gaspar Noé
- https://www.imdb.com/title/tt3774694/reference/ IMDb: Love by Gaspar Noé
- https://www.textezurkunst.de/98 Texte zur Kunst #98: Media (June 2015)
