Psychic TV T-shirt

This black cotton, long sleeve T-shirt is part of the official merchandise of the experimental video art and music group Psychic TV. It features red logos to the back, front and sleeves. Psychic TV were formed by the performance artist, known at that time as, Genesis P-Orridge, video director Peter Christopherson and Alexander Fergusson after the break-up of Throbbing Gristle. They are known for their experimental videos, their prolific output, and their extensive tours featuring improvisational elements and an ever-changing line-up of musicians. The T-Shirt was given to the donor, Mark Jordan, by the lead singer of the band, known at that time as Genesis P-Orridge. P-Orridge was born in Manchester in 1950 as Neil Andrew Megson. After dropping out of university in Hull he founded the performance art collective COUM Transmissions with Cosey Fanni Tutti. Their controversial and shocking performance work was aimed at confronting normal social values and attitudes. He is now known as Genesis Breyer P-Orridge and identifies as third gender. This change of name was an integral part of the infamous ‘Pandrogeny Project’ which saw Genesis and h/er second wife Lady Jaye Breyer undergo body modification to look like each other. After the modification they identified themselves as a single being named ‘Breyer P-Orridge’. Though Lady Jaye Breyer died in 2007 of a heart condition, Genesis has continued the project and still uses the plural 'we'. Pandrogeny is described as a conscious embracing of gender roles, sexual orientations or cultural traditions to the extent that the person’s original identity is impossible to decipher. Genesis describes ‘pandrogeny’ as turning the process of living into an art form and of neutralising gender in order to create a different possibility. Genesis explains the difference between transgender and pandrogeny as such: ‘with transgender… the person feels they’re a man trapped in a women’s body or a woman trapped in a man’s body – whereas in pandrogeny you’re just trapped in a body’.