As such Bowie sent in three signed computer drawn illustrations, a 1500-word cyber-sex transcript recorded with Brian Eno over the internet and something very strange. Something titled, 'The Diary Of Nathan Adler'. Q Magazine concluded that he had gone a little bit nutty. In Q Magazine's 101st issue a letter to the editor was recieved :
Dear Editor
I was deeply shocked and hurt to find that David had not only stolen my personal diary, but had decided to send it to you to be published. Now the whole world can read my diary. Great. How would you like it if I stole your diary and published it? I can not show my face in public anymore...
Yours sincerely
Nathan Adler
Bowie fled the diary controversy with his wife Iman in February, to Johannesburg where she was doing a 'Vogue' photo-shoot with Nelson Mandela. The pictures taken were described as 'hot' and 'steamy', Nelson and Iman in the nude cavorting together in a raunchy way. David ended up doing some painting to lessen his frustrations.
Upon arriving home he sold his house. Publisher Felix Dennis payed 2 million pounds for the place in Mustique...shit! there's a spider on my monitor!!!
On April 18th Bowie's first solo art exhibition, 'New Afro/Pagan And Work 1975-1995' opened at the Cork Street Gallery. A lot of the stuff he had been doing while locked in his basement in Switzerland was put on show to freak people out. It featured paintings :
"Bowie's paintings look to be the work of a demented and slowly disintegrating mind heading towards madness and chronic forgetfulness. Take what this man tells you with a grain of salt, he may promise you things! Don't believe him! If you meet him on a secluded street, you may want to run!"
It featured charcoal drawings :
"The charcoal work pleased me since it took my mind off the scary paintings, especially "Black Man/White Woman in Shower", but then I came to 'Man ripping off own head and screaming into the depths of hell', that threw me a little. Are there any unsolved murders in Switzerland?"
Sculpture :
"What the hell? What is that? What in Christs name goes wrong with people who sculpt things? That's it, I'm leaving."
And two wallpaper designs produced for him by Laura Ashley :
"Wallpaper? WTF?"
To continue his quest to be a generalist, he started working on another motion picture in June. A Julian Schnabel movie where he would play the part of Andy Warhol and co-star along Gary Oldman and Dennis Hopper. Mr Hopper talks about his co-star :
'Yep, definately had the feel that here was a guy losing his marbles somewhat. He would come onto the set each morning with his bag o' marbles, and the bag would be more and more empty. He'd be painting Minotaurs, mumbling about being deranged and capturing the little yellow men with the memory drugs. Would even refuse to sing his old songs'.
An article describing African art he had seen on his February trip to Johannesburg in the June issue of 'Modern Painters' shows his state of mind at the time :
'I saw art there in the sickness, tearing at my brain with hooks of seething plungers. It plucked my insides apart and draped them in the diamond hell of RoSaaNa's belly. I am now the wastes of my own decaying body. In the fire that I smell my own intestine trails.' Indeed.
In July he designed the poster for the annual Jazz Festival in Montreux. Bowie is a regular attender there. The poster was of a robotic bull tearing the insides out of a small child while blood poured over the weeping mother. This years Jazz Festival turned out being more downbeat than previous years.
Then it was back to touring. He began his first world tour in five years at Hartford, Connecticut. He called it 'The Outside Tour' as obviously he was by now outside of his mind. There to support him on his US dates were pioneers of industrial music 'Nine Inch Nails', though rumours still persisted that they were indeed only 6 inches.
The first of his new albums recorded with close buddy Eno, '1.Outside' was released world wide by BMG (Virgin America in the USA) on September 25th along with a single, 'The Heart's Filthy Lesson'. An album that introduces us to Nathan Adler's investigation of a serial/ritualistic "art-murder' involving a girl. This was to be the first of a series of albums to be released every fortnight, the next few were to be called :
'2.Inside'
'3.All Over The Place'
'4.Are You Sure They Are Not Under The Couch Cushions?'
'5.Here They Are, They Were In The Sock Drawer All Along.'
New Musical Express - I think you should all lock up your daughters, not because Bowie will seduce them, but because he might chop them up and bury them in his crawlspace.
Q Magazine - Told ya he went nutty. But still, it's a pretty good album. Murder and madness beats sappy crap any day in my books.
The Outside Tour continued. The British leg was pretty hairy and had a knobbly knee. Three concerts at the Wembley Arena (14th, 15th and 17th of November), followed by Birmingham, Belfast, Dublin, Exeter, Cardiff, Aberdeen, Glasgow, Sheffield and Manchester. Morrissey was now supporting Bowie, even though Bowie had plenty enough money to support himself at this stage of his career.