Irene Dogmatic

Irene Dogmatic on the set of Vileness Fats, photo by Graeme Whifler

**Irene Dogmatic** (also known as **Nancy Maass Mosen**) is an American visual and performance artist, musician and writer who has been active since 1972. Her work has been published in *Esquire*, *New York Woman*, *Elle Decor* and *House and Garden* magazines.

Dogmatic was an early friend and collaborator of The Residents, best known to fans for her appearance in the group's unfinished feature film *Vileness Fats*. Dogmatic also created artwork for the limited edition *Third Reich 'n Roll* Collectors' Box, released in 1980.

## Biography

Irene Dogmatic began her artistic career in San Francisco in 1972 as Nancy Maass Mosen. In August 1974 her work was published in *Esquire* magazine, and she was noted in Miriam Shapiro's 1975 publication *A Woman's Sensibility*. Dogmatic began creating "Dadamatic" mail art in the 1970s. In 1976, she contributed a piece to the Los Angeles Free Music Society compilation album *I.D. Art #2*.

In the late 1970s and early 1980s, Dogmatic was involved in the punk scene which had developed around the San Francisco Art Institute, joining the groups SST, The Beautykillers and The Kahunas. Dogmatic also created the cover art and packaging for SST's only single, which was released in 1978 on Tidal Wave Records.

Dogmatic moved to New York in 1982 and returned to San Francisco in 1994. She has remained active as a visual artist, poet and travel writer. Her "Dog Me Around" series of dog portraits were exhibited at the San Francisco Public Library in 2010, followed by an exhibition of her "Dadamatic Mail Art" in December 2016. Between 2011 and 2017 her travel writing was published by the non-profit online magazine *The Global Dispatches*.

In October 2020, she released a four-song EP, *Songs*, on San Francisco label Bottomfeeder Records, featuring lyrics and vocals by Dogmatic and music by Erik Ian Walker.

## Work with The Residents

   In the early 1970s, Dogmatic created artwork for a Residents, Uninc. Christmas card. Between 1974 and 1976, she appeared in the "Banquet Hall" scene in The Residents' unfinished feature film, *Vileness Fats*, as a character named Irene.

Irene's last collaboration with The Residents was for the *Third Reich 'n Roll* Collectors' Box*,* one of a planned series of deluxe limited edition box sets of their albums, which had been in the works since 1977. *The Third Reich 'n Roll* was the only box in the series to be fully produced at the time, finally seeing release in 1980, in an edition of of 50 copies. The box contained two signed and hand-numbered lithographs by Dogmatic, one depicting The Residents and the other an artwork of dogs in bondage.

Hardy Fox mentioned her in a 1995 interview. Her appearance in *Vileness Fats* was mentioned by Joshua Raoul Brody in the 2015 documentary *Theory of Obscurity: A Film About The Residents*, and two years later she was mentioned by Charles Bobuck in the tenth issue of Fox's Hacienda Bridge email newsletter.

## See also

* *Vileness Fats*
* *Mole Show/Whatever Happened To Vileness Fats?*
* *The Third Reich 'n Roll*
* Collectors' Box series

## Notes

1. ↑ In the 2015 documentary *Theory of Obscurity: A Film About The Residents*, Dogmatic is erroneously described as portraying The Mayor in *Vileness Fats*, although the character is clearly portrayed by a much older man. An image hosted on The Residents' official website with the filename "VFMayorAndIrene.jpg" indicates that Irene is the woman seated on the Mayor's left. Her character is also referred to simply as "Irene" in the film's script.

## External links and references

* "Arfonline" - Irene Dogmatic's official website
* Irene Dogmatic at *The Global Dispatches* (archived via archive.org)
* Irene Dogmatic at Discogs
* SST at Discogs
* The Kahunas at Discogs

1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 "Bio" at Irene Dogmatic's official website
2. ↑ Onechord, "Irene Dogmatic (SST / The Beautykillers / The Kahunas)", April 16th 2014
3. ↑ "I moved to New York in 1982 and returned to the Bay Area in 1994." Irene Dogmatic, comment in Ralph Records unofficial Facebook group, August 13th 2023
4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 nutMeg, "The Most Dada Thing: Neo-Dada in San Francisco & Dadamatic Mail Art from Irene Dogmatic’s collection", 2m2t, December 27th 2016
5. ↑ Ima Buddy, *Ima Buddy's Totally Impartial Companion to Uncle Willie's Highly Opinionated BIG MAMAS, 1992*
6. ↑ *The Third Reich 'n Roll* Collectors' Box on Discogs

**Scene by scene**
1: Arf and Omega · 2: Bellboys & Townspeople Battle 1 · 3: Town 1 · 4: Mother's House 1 · 5: Weescoosa & Ninnie 1 · 6: Cave 1 · 7: Weescoosa & Ninnie 2 · 8: Weescoosa's Flashback · 9: Weescoosa & Ninnie 3 · 10: Bellboys & Townspeople Battle 2 · 11: Town 2 · 12: Desert 2 · 13: Lonesome Jack & Peggy · 14: Desert 1 · 15: Mother's House 2 · 16: Town 3 · 17: Banquet Hall · 18: Cave 2 · 19: Bridge 1 · 20: The Master Plan · 21: Cave 3 · 22: Desert 3 · 23: Night Club 1 · 24: Desert 4 · 25: Night Club 2 · 26: Desert 5 · 27: Cave 4 · 28: Night Club 3 · 29: Desert 6 · 30: Night Club 4 · 31: Cave 5 · 32: Night Club 5 · 33: Mother's House 3 · 34: Night Club 6 · 35: The Window of Never
**Cast and characters**
Saint Steven / Lonesome Jack (Jay Clem) · Weescoosa (Sally Lewis) · Arf and Omega Berry (Palmer Eiland and George Ewart) · Ninnie (Danny Williams) · Steve's Mother (Marge Howard) · Peggy Honeydew (Margaret Smyk) · Weenie (Danny Williams) · Uncle Willy (Hardy Fox)
with
**Irene Dogmatic** · J. Raoul Brody · Barry "Schwump" Schwam · Hugo Olson · Bill Dewalt · Diane Flynn · Homer Flynn · Tony Logan · Dennis Sealy · The Mysterious N. Senada as himself

**Crew**
The Residents: direction, screenplay, music, sets, costumes · Graeme Whifler: lighting, sets, second unit direction · Diane Flynn: costumes · John Kennedy: editing
**Settings**
Vileness Flats (Mother's House · Ninnie's House · Banquet Hall · Willy's Hot Spot) · Motel · The Cave · The Desert · The Window of Never
**Soundtrack music**
"Aircraft Damage" · "The Importance of Evergreen" · "Eloise" · "Kamikaze Lady" · "Lonely At The Top" · "Fever" · "Russian Love Song" · *X Is For Xtra* ("Theme From X" · "Slow Texture" · "Asonarose" · "Soundtrack Music Piece 17")
**Related works**
The Boarding House performance · *Santa Dog* · *Meet The Residents* · *Not Available* (*X Is For Xtra*) · *The Third Reich 'n Roll* (video) · "March de la Winni" · Oh Mummy! Oh Daddy! performance · *Fingerprince* · *Whatever Happened To Vileness Fats?* (soundtrack · *PAL TV LP*) · *Video Voodoo* · *Twenty Twisted Questions* · *Icky Flix* (soundtrack · "The Knife Fight" · *RZ VF*) · *Theory of Obscurity: A Film About The Residents* · *Double Trouble* ("Junior's Double Trouble Nightmare" · trailer) · *Triple Trouble* (soundtrack)
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Atomic Shopping Carts · The Bell Boys · Residents, Uninc. · "My Mammy"· Sycamore St. studio · Ralph Records · The Cryptic Corporation · The Ugly Grey Theater