The fun doesn’t end yet… Destroy All Monsters is celebrating their 50th anniversary with an exhibition at the Cranbrook Art Museum, Nov. 1 through March 1, 2026. Below are links to events connected to the exhibit, articles, a gallery of installation photos, DAM “Scumbag Couture,” and some Destroy All Merch swag.
Upcoming Events
Cary Loren and Greg Baise will discuss the music of Destroy All Monsters and other strange delights on Wednesday, February 4, from 9-11 PM on Ann Arbor’s Local Show 88.3 FM or streaming live at WCBN.org
Saturday, Feb. 14 from 1-4 PM Cranbrook Art Museum and Buffalo Prescott present the Destroy All Hearts Collage Workshop + Discussion featuring local artist Cary Loren.
Destroy All Hearts Collage Workshop + Discussion
Saturday, February 14, tickets available at eventbrite.
1 PM Collage Workshop
2 PM to 3 PM Cary Loren + Lyla Catellier Discussion
3 PM Collage Workshop resumes
As a core member of Destroy All Monsters Cary Loren represents an artistic lineage spanning more than five decades. In this workshop, he will guide participants in a collage-making practice modeled after his chaotic ‘post-hippie, pre-punk’ style. Following the creative session, Cranbrook’s Lyla Catellier will join Loren for a conversation exploring the enduring impact of analog collage in the age of AI, tracing its influence and evolution parallel to technology, musical culture, and the literary arts. Following the talk, participants will have the opportunity to resume their collage work, applying any finishing touches.
Thursday, Feb. 19: 6:30-8:00 PM Artists Books & Zines: A Talk about the Graphic Underground and Beyond
Join us for a presentation and conversation featuring Cary Loren, artist and owner of the lauded local book shop Book Beat, in conversation with Kat Goffnett, Assistant Curator of Collections at Cranbrook Art Museum and Heather Mawson (CAA MFA Sculpture ‘18), Assistant Professor of Teaching, James Pearson Duffy Department of Art, Art History, and Design at Wayne State University on the graphic underground of Detroit and beyond. The lecture is a free event that will take place at Cranbrook Art Museum deSalle Auditorium.
Friday, February 27, 4-5 PM: Poet Anne Carson Live with Monster Island at the Detroit Public Library
A closing performance for the exhibition Noise, Vision & Ruin will be held at the Detroit Public Library main branch on the third floor of the Fine Art Department. Author Anne Carson will be reading from her work accompanied by the local group Monster Island. This is a rare opportunity to experience poetry + sound in the architectural beauty of the Detroit Library.
Anne Carson (born June 21, 1950, in Toronto) is a celebrated Canadian poet, essayist, classicist, and translator known for her genre-bending work that blends ancient Greek literature with modern, unconventional forms. A 2000 MacArthur Fellow, she has written acclaimed, experimental books like Autobiography of Red, Nox, and Eros the Bittersweet. Her latest book Wrong Norma (New Directions, 2025) was nominated for the National Book Award and won the prestigious 2024 National Book Critics Circle Award for Poetry.
A selection of Anne Carson’s work will be available for sale at the library courtesy of the Book Beat.
Mythic Chaos was reviewed Nov. 5th in The Detroit News. In the article, curator Kat Goffnet said, “This exhibition is both a celebration of their collaborative spirit and a critical look at the cultural conditions that inspired one of Michigan’s most unique contributions to contemporary art and music.”
Mythic Chaos was reviewed by Sean Beiri in the New Art Examiner.”Destroy All Monsters’ brand of reverence for the things they love doesn’t preclude running those things through the irreverent blender of their anarchic imaginations.”-Sean Bieri
Pulp.org an online newsletter distributed by the Ann Arbor District Library published an intervew by Frank Uhle with Cary Loren on Mythic Chaos.
The Xerox Myth: Copy Machine Creation in Destroy All Monsters is an essay by Cary Loren on Xeroxed art in the DAM collective at the Three Fold Press website.
The Renalien Abduction hour on Passenger Radio WHCK did an interview on some of the musical inspirations behind Destroy All Monsters on January 30. The full playlist is availble somewhere on youtube.
Sun Ra poster: NO-THING IS printed by Amos Paul Kennedy, Jr. (signed)
hebookbeat.com/bookshop/catalog/destroy-all-monsters-postcard-set-by-sue-rysnki/
Cranbrook gallery installation photos by PD Rearick:
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Another side of DAM: Hysteric Glamour’s (well named) “Scumbag Couture” and “God’s Oasis Remix” -a line of Japanese clothing appropriating Cary Loren’s 1970s photography, collages, and artwork taken from Geisha This, Destroy All Monsters Magazine and elsewhere.
