Doug Aitken: Song 1

Bob Burnett: Doug Aitken's' 360 degree film project Song 1 will be concluding it's showing on March 20.  The filmwork has been screened nightly from sunset to midnight via 11 HD projectors on the facade of the Hirshhorn museum in Washington, DC. There's a full write up of the piece on the Hirshhorn's website.

Much has already been said about Song 1 being a groundbreaking work merging film and technology.  As a viewer my thoughts kept drifting towards James Joyce's concept of "the language of the night" used in Finnegan's Wake; a form of articulating the unconsious yet clear moments in life that may not have tangible meaning but create deep and lasting impact. The constant of Song 1 is the soundtrack; a variety of takes of the standard "I Only Have Eyes for You" mixed in with atmospheric natural sound from the environments where the images and people were shot.  The most notable version of the song is the haunting version from 1959 by The Flamingos.

For contrast, here's the version created by Beck that's also used:

In addition to sitting still and watching one section of the wall, I walked around the perimeter and took in the mid-side doppler effect of the soundscape changing from speaker to speaker. Added visual charm was the in-proximity tree branches that picked up the flicker of the projectors--not to forget the projectors themselves: large, square HD boxes emitting strong light and movement.  The surrounding trees picked up reflections of the projections as well as added dimension to the foreground.

The experience created interesting people watching too.  There were several hundred viewers sitting around the perimeter, passersby on foot self-conciously walking by seemingly not knowing what to do with themselves or comprehending what they'd stumbled across.  Some flat-out showed their lack of intellectual curiosity by ignoring the whole environment. Oh well, that's their loss.  The final takeaway for me is Song 1 came across as a strong example of art in public places being a catalyst for making something happen.   The nightly screening created a destination for what's normally a quiet part of the city.  Additionally, it rethought the use of a structure and turned art outward instead of only within its walls.

Hillman Curtis 1961-2012

 

Bob Burnett: I didn’t know Hillman Curtis or know specifically of his web design work or read his books.  I read this article on Design Observer earlier in the week and was struck by it.  Hillman was approximately my age when he died earlier in April of cancer.   I admire that he produced video pieces in a quiet, unaffected yet thoughtful way.  I like their nerdy normalcy—I didn’t care that they were sometimes technically a-kilter or not lit.

His webpage features a bunch of video clips.

He seemed to be a guy that took his design experience in web and print and expanded it to video stories about people just because he wanted to.  I suggest starting with the Artists Series on his web page. I liked the David Byrne/Brian Eno film because he made me interested in an album that I didn’t like when I listened to it when it came out.   The Lawrence Weiner video was another great example for me.  Mr. Weiner was all over the place and captivating at the same time.  I love the slow dolly shot up to his striking face.

Hillman Curtis did some commissioned work too—for instance a few shorts for Adobe.  He had the  huevos to do technically messy, yet engaging segments.  I’m just starting to watch the BAM Performers series. Seems he actually got a camera crew for those and there's a higher level of production aesthetic.  

I've produced and directed videos for 25 years.  There’s something nice and re-centering for me seeing this work.  It makes me not want to get simply caught up in delivering something for a client as fast as possible but to think a little bit, let a concept develop that you actually like and then make better use of the medium.  

Christopher Willits+ Friends Remixes Now Online

Bob Burnett: A nice compilation is now available online. Christopher Willits publicly shared 121 recordings used to create the album "Tiger Flower Circle Sun", encouraging other artists to "have fun and create what you love with the sounds". This album features some of the results.You can go here to download it for yourself.

The Coordinates Are Entered by Dksoundguy

The Coordinates Are Entered by Dksoundguy
Bob Burnett: DC musician and friend of C60 Dennis Kane has been going down the road of analog synthesizer acquisition, composition and recording. I've linked his newest effort above. I've always had a soft spot for analog synthesis. I used to listen to it frequently while working in a record store while in high school. "Boring synthesizer music!" bellowed my colleague Marc. "But I like boring synthesizer music" being my reply. I have to credit long duration synthesizer music as the groundwork that made other contemporary composition understandable for me. The pathway to Morton Feldman had a trailhead of Tim Blake. (seen in the photo above)I hope you enjoy Dennis' work.

"John & Beatrice"

Bob Burnett: I'm tooting my own horn with today's post. I recently produced a video for Fairfax, Va.- based The Hub Theatre about their upcoming play " John & Beatrice".
The production of the video received a very nice write up in DC Theatre Scene.
If you live in the DC region please come see the play. I enjoyed the time I spent observing the rehearsal. It's rare to find such a high level of performance happening in a small, suburban theater.
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Gerald Cleaver's Detroit

Bob Burnett:  This morning is a case where, for once, MOG's "Just For You" selection process worked.  It told me since I listened to Tim Berne's Snakeoil I'd like Gerald Cleaver's Detroit.  I didn't know anything about this album before this listen.  I think Tom Greenland's review from All About Jazz makes a great point when he says:

Simultaneously mainstream and forward-thinking, self-contained yet open-ended, "Detroit" embodies the currency and vitality of its namesake's hard bop legacy in today's creative music scene.

Since I'm listening on MOG, I'm not getting the benefit of the album
packaging. Apparently there's a photo essay in the liner notes showing dilapidated buildings
and former neighborhoods now shells and ghosts of a time gone by which (as said in Greenland's review) "strikes a melancholy tone, but the music is
anything but."
I'm finding the music reflective.  The ballad "Henry" feels like a Detroit version of John Coltrane's New York City reflection "Central Park West".  There's plenty of post hard-bop driving, pulsing and interesting music here too.  
All and all a nice discovery.  Here's hoping MOG's "Just For You" scores a few more for me.

Charles Gayle Trio: Streets

Bob Burnett: There's an excellent article by Dan Spicer in this month's The Wire magazine about saxophonist-pianist Charles Gayle. Charles was part of the '60s music movement called "The New Thing" or "free jazz".   For years Gayle took on a variety of odd jobs to help support his life as a musician.  At one point sometime between 15-20 years ago (he doesn't recall for sure) something changed in his mind.  He quit trying to scrape by with jobs and, as he puts it, changed.

"I have to change...and that was it.  I gave my duffel bag to a friend because it's all I had, and I just went to the streets. I had no idea what I was doing. I didn't know what it was going to be like to be homeless and for how long." 

"(Homelessness) absolutely changed me. And it's still in me. You don't think the same as you think when you're living like I'm living now, like regular people live. You haven't time to think like that. Something else takes over. Your dreams are different in terms of what you think about the future. You're living from day to day so you can't think, "Oh, next year I'll go to Hawaii". You can forget about that. With no heat all those years...you're a different person.  it's about surviving. It can break you, I'll tell you that. It can break you for life." 

After years of the street, Gayle now has a modest apartment near Tompkins Square in New York City.  The term "street" now means something different to him.  He's taken on the persona of "Streets The Clown" and plays gigs as Streets and still goes out on the streets, in costume, and plays.  In addition to The Wire article, The Village Voice recently had a Q&A article with Gayle.  It goes into details about his life as a homeless person and how Streets The Clown came about through the combination of being homeless and continuing a life dedicated to playing music .

He's recently released an album titled Streets.  He's in his full clown costume on the cover but  there's nothing but raw, intense music happening inside.  The Wire also linked to a video of Streets the Clown playing in the streets in New York City.