Satan's Own Art Gallery Returns to NYC

After 16 months of collecting souls in Los Angeles, VECTOR, the “official art gallery of Satan,” will return to Manhattan this week. At 199 East 3rd Street, VECTOR 4.0 is just blocks from its first two incarnations on Clinton Street and East Broadway, where founder and self-proclaimed “Crown Prince of Hell” JJ Brine first developed the controversial, holographic concept space in 2013. Last year, Brine took Vector to Los Angeles, and about a year later announced plans to move to Washington, DC. While hopes of hijacking the presidential election with Satanic energy were high, those plans were abandoned and now, VECTOR is coming home.

Brine is a rare breed, and his work with VECTOR encompasses more than just creating an art gallery—he’s created an entire universe, truly intelligible only to those on the inside, a group of artists termed “The Vectorian Government,” who are unwaveringly, unapologetically committed to their installations and performances. Many of these push buttons, like burning religious texts, letting Usher charge his phone inside performance artist Lena Marquise’s vagina, or a re-trial of Charles Manson. VECTOR, to Brine, is an entity with its own life, existing in its own spacio-temporal realm and governed by three laws: change, devotion, and no planning.

He speaks almost in tongues, in a particularly complex manner that make obvious the depths of the world he has created for himself. To make Vector’s parallel universe easier for those of this realm to understand, there’s a glossary of relevant Vectorian terms available on the gallery’s website, from “INFINITOMENT - The endless now that always is,” to “NEOSTORY - The record of future events and times,” to “SHAY,” which “technically refers to the unfortunates who have never set foot inside” the gallery. Although, this glossary raises more questions than it answers

To get a taste of what’s inside this creator’s mind, it’s worth reading this interview he did with himself.

Even over Facebook message, where we got in touch, he uses the singular personal pronoun “eye.” We asked him some questions about Vector’s New York homecoming, but his answers might only be intelligible if your soul already belongs to the devil. We just wanted to know what to expect from the opening night, which was once advertised with the tagline “Green Corn Moon,” but has since been changed to “Send God to Hell.” Instead, we got this:

The Creators Project: Why bring VECTOR back to NYC?

JJ Brine: Instinct.

What happened to the idea of moving to Washington, DC?

The Golden Calf Is Jesus Christ. All of my lightboxes are for sale. Collection!

What have you learned from previous manifestations of VECTOR that helped you to create this one? How will this new space be different from the old spaces?

Eye learned to shock myself into a new thought and teach myself what can’t be taught. Eye am colonizing your thoughts.

What will the opening night be like?  

Entry into VECTOR adds your soul signature to the psychic petition to Send God to Hell. Heaven is below us, down the spiral staircase and into the International Society of Lights. The Devil is wherever Eye may wish to be, tonight!

The year is 2028AD by our calendar. Opening Night marks the end of The Summer of Hate.

Which members of the Vectorian government will perform?

The Vectorian Government’s spread of  pageantry will ritualize the imperial image of the SWITCH in the Eye of ALAN. Sermons and situations will be delivered unto the Immortal Energies of The 777 Beast by Minister of State Lena Marquise, Minister of Truth Julia Sinelnikova (The Oracle), Minister of Education Montgomery Harris, Minister of Synthetic Light Torie Zalben, and Minister of Ceremonies Cecily Feitel. Furthermore, Vectorian Minister of Growth Michael Bianchino will be initiated (and flogged). New Vectorian initiates Minister of Zion Yasmin Ben-David, Minister of Fire Lydia Graves, and Minister of Mathematics Nic Nunogawa will also make certain gestures in the proximity of my unerring and ineffable word.

We move like a landform made of mist.

What is the significance of Green Corn Moon?

Regalize slavery! Let the cattle brand themselves.

So we got in touch with artist Julia Sinelnikova, a.k.a., The Oracle, who has been collaborating with Brine on VECTOR since the beginning. Living up to her name, she says she has a special ability: “I have been charged with predicting anyone's death cause and date, but do not volunteer this information unless asked specifically.” She speaks in an earthly language, and tells us she’s excited to welcome the gallery back to New York, where she lives and works. “This reopening in NYC is symbolic after a long hiatus,” she says. “It's great to have JJ back and NYC feels like Vector's natural home.”

At the opening night, she will perform a “ritualistic spoken word piece,” and then act as a living sculpture. If previous VECTOR performances are any indication, viewers can probably expect a series of religious-like rituals, edgy and mystical spoken word pieces, and a whole bunch of iridescent cellophane, dismembered mannequins, and cryptic phrases written in mailbox lettering stickers.

VECTOR re-opens on August 25. Find out more on the gallery’s Facebook event.

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