Tim Burton’s exhibition at MoMA, opening this week- the week before Thxgiving, is an absolute must see. For fans of his films it is a revelation to see the layers of sketches, sculpture, writings and artifacts. For everyone else, it is also thrilling to experience the unique, personal and sensitive expression of a true mastermind of media -one of the most creative thinkers of our generation!
“For the majority of mollusks, the visible organic form has little importance in the life of the members of a species, since they cannot see one another and have, at most, only a vague perception of other individuals and of their surroundings. This does not prevent brightly colored stripings and forms which seem very beautiful to our eyes (as in many gastropod shells) from existing independently of any relationship to visibility.”
-Italo Calvino, Cosmicomics
Geo Logos XIII
Geo Logos II
This series is printed on double sided mylar that has a fabulous texture for digital prints, and is translucent in surprising ways. Dimensions: 60″ by 36″
Geo Logos III
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I consider these drawings or photograms as opposed to photographs. I allowed the pinpoints of light translated by the lens a moment to consider, then generate an automatic drawing. The figures that are drawn are the result of play between the camera tracking the flight and the somewhat predictable movement of the aircraft.
Flight Portrait III
Flight Portrait VI
A behind the scenes glimpse of this stunning period of Jeremy Earhart’s work from the installation of The Thin Ice of Modern Life at Goff and Rosenthal (537 West 23rd Street NY, NY)
The exhibition was earlier this spring -I have been sitting on these photographs (metaphorically speaking). I want to share them; I hope they are enjoyed by fans of Jeremy’s work and fans of the great work being done at the gallery. With all due respect:
NEW FOGNODE AMBIENT RELEASE
“Fognode – Ambient Vol. 1″ is a ten year ambient retrospect (1999-2009) packaged in a segued, 36 minute piece. The collection of previously released material coupled with new and unreleased pieces, highlights Siskind’s prolific work in the realm of ambient music. The soundscapes are environments, bathed in pedal steel and field recordings, and is entirely engulfing, relaxing… transcendent.
Available for download now, and just pay what you can. Enjoy the space.
http://www.fognode.com/beathollow/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=32&Itemid=57
I recently acquired a Moog ‘Minimoog D‘ Synthesizer, which apart from being quite a trophy vintage piece to have, is an endlessly entertaining toy, and an amazing musical instrument. It requires more patience to ‘play’ than most instruments I have experimented with. I found a historical timeline of synthesizers in my research, it is very informative. I also needed an owners manual as the instrument needs to be tuned- counter intuitive to the contemporary electronic musician but a relatively simple operation.
So… I bought this from a guy who was selling some paperback books and assorted junk off a folding table around the Upper West Side… Umm, I can’t tell you how much I paid or you might hate me. As soon as I got this instrument home I recorded it and edited a little something for you to hear (listen/download an MP3 here) Basically several hours of blips, roars, washes and no small amount of beautiful and complex tones. That night the studio (Beat Hollow) was a head-to-head Synth Battle Royale: 1 coffee table, 2 vintage synthesizers, 2 headphones, and 1 reel of Ampex tape.
This keyboard I found is the same one used by the likes of Sun-Ra, YES’s Tony Kaye, Geddy Lee (I looked for something cheesy but this is actually a great photo)! and many, many others.
I read that only a few of these were made (in electronics that means in the thousands) right here in New York!
You can also identify when it was made; between the years of 1972 and 1981; you can tell by this little badge. I love the idiosyncratic American engineering of this whole time period.
Update to this page: There is a way you can turn your Moog “up to 11″ and I thought to make it easier for others to find out, too.
On the back panel where the main output jack is located, you can create a controllable feedback (oxymoron?) loop with the external input feature:
So, once you get the output patched into the input, you activate and adjust the trim for the input channel (see the next image) until you see the light begin to blink rhythmically -don’t overdo it! I don’t know what will happen. I do know that you will hear your tone take on an edge and crackle that adds quite a bit of dimension to your overall sound.
Happy Synthesis!
Saul Stokes is my soundtrack for this spring. He builds his own instruments he calls “hand forged electronics”. He has a new album ‘Metacollage‘ out this spring on Hypnose. (Image borrowed from Last.fm)
On the Tuesday of the week, from 6pm through the night -there is a deeep radio show streaming out of Queens College. the imminent ADHDJ
“Universe Premiers”
One of the main objectives of this radio show is to play unique and beautiful music; music that is important to me and which I feel will resonate with that deliberation which even I am mirroring. I believe it to be of great importance to free up this medium by “air”-ing things for the first time.
Such has been the case with the Forrest Bride box set, Good Rester, Alch3mi$t, Daniel Lofthagen, and, likely, others.
I am hoping that through this effort, a higher associative context will be allowed to manifest – perhaps the one for which I gesture.
Universe Premiers….“
…stunning drawings by the late German Surrealist artist and writer Unica Zürn in the exhibition Unica Zürn: Dark Spring.
Portrait of U.Z. by Hans Bellmer
This is from the gallery copy:
…approximately 50 ink and watercolor works on paper by the late German artist and writer Unica Zürn, spanning from the early 1950s until her tragic suicide in 1970. A noted poet and novelist, Zürn produced numerous expressionistic short stories that were published in German newspapers throughout the 1950s before moving to Paris with German Surrealist artist, Hans Bellmer, who would be her partner and collaborator until her death. Zürn began producing paintings and drawings related to her Surrealist-influenced literary work while living in Paris, becoming acquainted with many artists in the Surrealist circle, including André Breton, Max Ernst, Man Ray, and Marcel Duchamp. Part whimsical cartoons, part intricate portraits, Zürn’s chimerical fantasies make for drawings that are deeply revelatory yet playfully imaginative. Curated by João Ribas.
[[The self-titled debut Good Rester EP mixes dusty echoes of Bristol-style trip-hop, the phantasmal innocence of Arovane's Lilies, and the decaying clatter of rust-stained machinery. The result is sonic architecture that melds the reverential awe of cathedral space with the persistent cacophony of urban density. Good Rester suggests we can still find a place for introspection and bliss, even amidst all this twenty-first century noise. -Mark Teppo]]
Just before you sleep, you are good resting. Body-listening and blurred sense of time are the sensory modalities. This self-titled debut EP is a document of the tension and tranqulity of Queens. The name Good Rester is taken from an elementary school poster of Siskind’s, in which classmates deemed him a Good Rester.
Burgeoning in the echoes of post-industrial Queens and Long Island City, the music of Good Rester is a nexus of old ideas and new ones, a synthesis of harsh elements and serenity. Siskind’s environmental recordings ground the work in time and space -from the ruined halls of an amphitheater in Pompeii to Bhutanese monks dancing on the Brooklyn waterfront.
Good Rester woke in the NYC January of 2008 when producer/artist Fognode aka Brian Siskind met Karen Y Chan, joined former band mate Andy Alexander of Let’s Say Baltimore and introduced their voice, lyrical projections and textures to his own storied ruminations. Play in the temporal and the ether is the reason for voice, dub, and analog synthesizer.
Beat Hollow
May 2009 NYC
www.fognode.com/beathollow
www.myspace.com/goodrester
www.virb.com/goodrester
NYTimes Arts Metrpolitan Museum of Art Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum .:Oxford Art Journal:.
