(David Daley’s interview appeared in Salon, 1/12; via the Drudge Report.)
Longtime Salon contributor and columnist Camille Paglia has often hailed David Bowie as one of her central influences. Her book “Sexual Personae” was influenced in many ways by Bowie — and then he heralded it on his list of 100 favorite books which went viral again yesterday after his death. London’s Victoria & Albert Museum asked Paglia to write the catalog essay on Bowie and gender for its blockbuster 2013 show of Bowie’s costumes, which is still touring internationally. We asked her to discuss Bowie’s legacy on Monday, as the world mourned the passing of an icon.
Would you describe your first and formative experiences with Bowie? He was a mind-blowing artist to first encounter at a young age — a pop star for whom there seemed to be no traditional boundaries, and capable of awakening such creative possibilities and awareness.