I am still reeling from the amazing Sunn/Boris/Oren Ambarchi show last month. It was an incredible, visceral experience the likes of which I have never seen nor felt.
Last weekend brought Sunn to the Maureen Paley Gallery in London for the opening of a new exhibition by visual artist Banks Violette. For the new show, he cast Sunn’s entire stage set (amps, speaker cabinets, mini moog, guitars, etc. I really mean entire.) in salt. For the opening of the exhibition, Violette had Sunn performing on a lower level, out of the public view, while the facsimile of every piece of equipment used in their performance was on view upstairs. This was “intended as a frustrated viewing experience for the audience,” as they could hear, and no doubt feel, the performance, but they were not allowed to see the musicians.
Banks Violette @ Maureen Paley in London
This is an image that the artist sent to Sunn’s Stephen O’Malley after his guitar had been safely returned to him unharmed.
Thanks to ideologic for the pics, see more images from the show there.
Edit: Artforum also has put a blog up about the Banks Violette/Sunn collaboration. Thanks again, Stephen.
From a storefront on the Lower East Side…
No real news there, but imagine my surprise when walking down 24th St. in Chelsea, NYC, I run into a friend from Minneapolis, and Open-Ended resident artist, Matt Bakkom! (don’t miss the capture the flag game that will complete Matt’s Open-Ended activities) We walked into the Zach Feuer Gallery and looked at Nathalie Djurburg’s show. The Show was compised of films starring plasticine puppets in pornographic and transgrssive scenarios. Aestheticallly, I think Matt described it well as falling somehwere between “internet fetish pages and saturday morning cartoons.” It was strange, and at times disturbing, but transfixing.
As Cameron has been posting some of the portraits that come out of the Walker Photo Studio, I’m sure you have a sense of how great the work Cam and Gene do truly is.
We try to document all of the visiting artists that visit the Walker with a portrait, and I often get to escort visiting filmmakers down to the studio for their portraits. It’s always a pleasure to watch Cam and Gene work, and makes me look forward to seeing the results.
Last night, Cameron was able to work a portrait of Li Zhenhua into his schedule. I took a few pictures to document the occasion.
Zhenhua is in from China to present The Wave and to complete the installation of Virtual China. (Be sure to check this out, it is fantastic! Also, be sure to read his Artist in Residence blog, to read the account of his first visit to the US.)
I can’t wait to see the final pics.
As Diana in Performing Arts can attest, due to my periodic and nerdy nagging, I am really excited about the upcoming Sunn/Boris show at the Walker. Whether you will like it or not, I can't say, but it does indeed promise to be an experience the likes of which you never have had.
Musically, Boris (making a rare trip to the US from Japan) is all over the map. They certainly tend towards the noisier side of rock, but often offer incredibly beautiful melodic moments as well as some songs that channel all of the best parts of Black Sabbath. Their Akuma No Uta record (Currently available in the Walker shop) covers all of the aforementioned bases and would be a good place to start if you haven't heard Boris yet.
Sunn is something completely different. If you haevn’t seen Sunn, you haven’t seen anything like Sunn. As their records indicate, “Maximum Volume Yields Maximum Results.” Their live show promises to demonstrate this. Through volume and manipulation of the low-end of the sonic spectrum they create music with a physical presence in the room.
Sunn is just returning from a European tour. Stephen O’Malley, one half of Sunn’s core, has posted some images and video from the tour in the “WORDS” section of his website. Take a look, and you will get a sense of what will grace the Stage at the McGuire on May 25. I can’t wait.
SUNNO))) images courtesy of www.ideologic.org
