Mike Kelley. Deodorized Central Mass with Satellites. 1991/1999. Plush toys sewn over wood and wire frames with styrofoam packing material, nylon rope, pulleys, steel hardware and hanging plates, fiberglass, car paint, and disinfectant. Overall dimensions variable. (c) Estate of Mike Kelley. Images courtesy of Perry Rubenstein Gallery, Los Angeles. Photography: Joshua White/JWPictures.com.

In honor of the Mike Kelley: Looking Forward symposium at MoMA PS1, as well as a perfect way to avoid the Santacon hoards on this snowy day, we wanted to make it easier to read the full series of co-founder Emily Colucci’s “Who Was Mike Kelley: A Genealogy Of Dangerous Blue-Collar Trash Aesthetics.” Performing a week-long hostile takeover of Filthy Dreams in honor of Kelley’s retrospective at MoMA PS1, the three part essays constructed a genealogy of Kelley’s trash aesthetic, illuminating the different facets of his work from a decadent love of decay, investigation of memory, trashy subversion, auditory assault and finally, the creation of a community through blue-collar kitsch.

Here are the links to the essays in full:

Who Was Mike Kelley: A Genealogy of Dangerous Blue-Collar Trash Aesthetics (Part 1)

Who Was Mike Kelley: A Genealogy of Dangerous Blue-Collar Trash Aesthetics (Part 2)

Who Was Mike Kelley: A Genealogy of Dangerous Blue-Collar Trash Aesthetics (The Finale)