Cobain’s Vault

A few weeks ago, biographer Charles R. Cross released his second book on Kurt Cobain. It’s a tangible, artistic approach to a memoir of a suicidal and genius soul. Not what would fall under an official biography, Cobain Unseen tells Cobain’s story as a reflection to the things he collected and the art he made.

Cobain Unseen introduces its audience to what diseased Cobain: several family suicides, poverty, heartbreak, Americana as a whole- but more importantly the creativity it born. Despite the dismal life he lead, Cobain anchored his spirits from an early age by writing in his diary, painting, sketching, and collecting thrift store items. The book tells a black, heart-wrenching tale parallel to old photographs and other physical items. Pages with pockets hold replicated loose-leaf pages of lyrics, a Thanksgiving Day greeting card, makeshift Nirvana stickers, and concert fliers.

Cross discovered Cobain’s treasures while researching Heavier Than Heaven (2001), the first Cobain biography he wrote. Soon after Cobain’s death all of his belongings were put into high-security storage, Courtney Love gave Cross permission to go through it. She told Cross, “If you’re going write about Kurt, you’d better read what he wrote about himself.” At first Cross was only allowed to view, but in 2002 he was granted permission to photograph the guts of the vault; guitars, t-shirts, porcelain doll heads, retro board games, paintings, and heart-shaped boxes.

Cross writes, “Once I saw in the vault the bizarre and moving weirdness that represented the physical world of Kurt Cobain, I phoned Courtney and argued that if people were able to see Kurt’s talent as a collector and artist, they might have a different understanding of how his creativity worked.” Cross was right.

155 pages can only make a dent in Cobain’s story, but glorifies a three-dimensional world. Interestingly enough, one incident seems to be seeping into the forefront of the media lately through online articles. It was only mentioned in the book, the 1992 MTV Video Music Awards. Backstage, enemies Axl Rose of Guns’n’Roses and Cobain had an exchange of words over a comment Love made while cradling their newborn, Frances Bean. Teasing, she said to Rose, “You’re the godfather.” A bent out of shape Rose told Cobain to, “Keep your woman in line.” Coinciding, there was an issue with MTV over Nirvana performing “Rape Me.” Nirvana bassist Krist Novoselic decided to remember this incident in his November 18, Seattle Weekly blog, wanting to do something different and tell the whole story of this very night, the night his bass crashed down on his head. Because of behind-the-scene friction surrounding Cobain, Novoselic took the stage in the wrong frame of mind, then frustrated from distorting monitors, decided to do his usual bass-toss, and for the first time he missed the catch and it fell on his face. It’s interesting that Novoselic chooses now to tell this story from 16 years ago, a week before Guns’n’Roses first release in 17 years.

Not sure why the 1992 VMAs is suddenly so important, especially after the release of such a touching book. Cobain Unseen showcases Cobain for the absolute surrealist he was, not how the world/media portrayed him.

by Genette Nowak

http://www.hereisnirvana.com/