I WAS AN "INDUSTRIAL" ARTIST #6

I returned to abstraction with this series of paintings (acrylic on canvas, 16 and a half x 15 inches). These small works (1989-1990) were a respite from the much larger paintings I had been working on,  and seemed nearly monolithic in their simplicity compared to my earlier artistic exploits. Strangely enough,  I always felt comfortable teetering on the fence between realism and abstraction,  and felt  entirely reasonable in doing so.  They were later used for a Controlled Bleeding album called GAG that was being released by Materiali Sonori  from San Giovanni Valderno,  a quick train ride from Florence.   During our stay there, Giampiero Bigazzi of Materiali Sonori brought us to a very nice rustic ristorante (pasta with sugo di asparagi) while impressing us with both his driving skills and lack of concern for anyone's mortality,  yet did little to distract from what ultimately turned out to be the worse trip I've ever taken to Europe. Paintings:  Left ("Bystander"),  Right ("Gag")

I WAS AN "INDUSTRIAL" ARTIST #5

FRAGMENT 1 (1989) was of my favorite projects/collaborations with Dan Plunkett of ND,  a magazine and cassette label from Texas that openly encouraged sharing of ideas,  imagery,  and sonic exploration. It consisted of my drawings,  as well as soundworks from Jeff Greinke and Pierre Perret (who both also contributed interviews to the package).  The Hater's G.X. Juppitter-Larsen wrote something of a  short  treatise on "chance" for the accompanying booklet.  When viewed,  listened to,  and read,  the package seemed to suggest that the "cassette culture"  was  a viable response to the commodification of artistic pursuits.  Everything was so hands-on that I can still see fingerprints on the pages.

I WAS AN "INDUSTRIAL" ARTIST #4

The above works are from the European release of DRY LUNGS V (1992),  a collection of noise artists from around the globe.  The American release on Subterranean Records utilized more readily grasped "industrial"  imagery (cow carcass,  butcher,  scattered teeth, etc.) by yours truly that was far less poetic than I would have hoped for. This double CD from the folks at Dark Vinyl presents two mixed-media pieces that I very much prefer for their ambiguity and lack of narrative cliche.  They were created with collage elements (some torn and slightly burned Renaissance imagery,  clinical line/number xerox directives from Masami Akita) and acrylic paint/ medium that were later sanded as part of the process. This was,  in my opinion,  the best of the series as far as the packaging and "music" are concerned.  The abstraction here carried over to the aural forms heard within,  while the imagery seemed like the late 20th century was in a mad rush to desecrate the past.

OPTIK: TWO-LANE BLACKTOP

This little seen movie (directed by Monte Hellman) from 1971 has been on my list of must-see movies for as long as I can remember. I distinctly remember reading about it in a 1970 issue of Rolling Stone when that magazine's counter-cultural credentials still meant something.  One of the essays that accompanies this Blu-ray release on Criterion speaks of the shattering social milieu that anoints this and so many other films of this era in clearly existential terms:  "It is a movie about loneliness,  and the attempts made by people to connect with one another and maintain their solitude at the same time...an impossible task,  an elusive dream." It certainly has more in common with the French cinema of the time (think Godard) than previous Hollywood productions,   except for the iconic use of American vehicles as protagonists unto themselves.  While the dialogue is fairly minimal the main characters here (James Taylor/The Driver,  Dennis Wilson/The Mechanic,  Laurie Bird/The Girl,  and especially Warren Oates/GTO) seem lost in their visions of themselves,  all seeking refuge in vast roadways,  delusions,  and outright lies.  Oates seems especially lost in his emotions,  picking up hitchhikers along the way with little or no connection,   all for a chance to share his dreams.   What I like about this film is its ambiguity,  its elasticity of meaning and intent,  and the human dead ends encountered along the way. It's a road movie without destination,  much like everyone's journey. Inertia artfully presented.

I WAS AN "INDUSTRIAL" Artist #3

Another bit of digging in my walk-in closet and more buried "treasure" for me to archive.  These are mixed media (5"x 5"photographs,  paint,  metal,  staples,  and medium) pieces that were used for the cover of Controlled Bleeding's THE DROWNING CD on Dark Vinyl from 1994.  The source images that I later "processed" are by Ivan Sladek from one Eastern Block country or another (I don't remember).  In keeping with industrial cliches,  there  is a nearly tangible sense of suffocation here,   a blurry disquiet that fits quite well with the sounds on this release.  On the CD package a title label was affixed to the jewel box that obscured the cover image,  but was easily removed. Enjoy.

I WAS AN "INDUSTRIAL" ARTIST #2

More of my artwork from the early nineties,  but in this case never used for a particular project.  Both are acrylic paint and gloss medium on illustration board (5" square).  The imagery,  in keeping with "industrial"  cliches of the time,  is somewhat disturbing in its morbid and wounded fleshiness.   Medical illustration is the inspiration here,  especially the work of Frank H. Netter,  MD (1906-1991),  who gave up medicine after finding his anatomical illustration work far more lucrative. The above are far more painterly than Dr. Netter's more clinical representations,  bordering on abstraction.

MAGNIFIERS: THE SOUND OF TOMORROW by Mark Brend

This 2012 book,  subtitled "How Electronic Music Was Smuggled Into The Mainstream",  gives a wonderfully detailed reading of how early electronic "music" (be it sound effects,  movie sound design and sountracks, TV commercials, children's music, etc.) insinuated itself into our collective consciousness without fanfare. It is also the story of brave individuals who experimented with a fledgling technology and took it to both ridiculous and the sublime places. This book concentrates on a kind of populist netherworld bypassed by the "serious" or "academic"  composers (like Karlheinz Stockhausen,  Pierre Schaeffer,  and Otto Luening) of the time,  where sound was produced and  manipulated with both commercial and artistic intentions.  Many were "do-it-yourself" musicians,  inventors,  and experimenters whose need to express themselves superseded contemporaneous artistic ideas and acceptable music technology.  Discoveries abound here.

OSCILLATIONS: SINCERE VOID by Grasslung

This 2010 release by Grasslung  aka Jonas Asher, really took me by surprise with its take on what most would call "ambient music".  In many ways its seven perfectly paced tracks form a meditation of sorts on both sound and its use as a key to an ineffable nostalgia. Titles like "Scarred Hands",  "Feeding Your Vanity", "When We Were Young" and "Lay Down in a Ditch" suggest real emotions rather than narrative. One would expect at least some redundancy within these tracks,  but each is a soundworld unto itself,  detouring drone into something much more engaging than much of the work produced within this genre. While I have not spoken to Jonas about his sound sources,  I would think both heavily processed acoustic sounds and synthetic sounds make up the palette here. Most tracks employ repetition that is interrupted by subtle electronics,  crumbling noise,  percussives,  and even hints of melody.  For individuals who demand less noise and more poetry from a listening experience,  this could be an essential  release.  

I WAS AN "INDUSTRIAL" ARTIST #1

Way back in the nineties I generally volunteered my services as a freelance artist/designer working for and with various musicians whose work could be described as "industrial" or "electronic" in nature.  In this series I will attempt to archive some of this work for both historical and personal reasons.  While I am proud of much of it,  some of the work could easily be tossed into an artistic ghetto I would term "industrial",  with all the ready cliches I would attach to it.  Above is an image I produced for a Fat Hacker 45 (photo collage, pencil, matte medium,  and xerox on board),  and whose inspiration  would certainly be the photo-collages of early twentieth century artists like Max Ernst and  John Heartfield,  whose response to the horrors of WWI are not likely to go unnoticed.  

OPTIK: "Toby Dammit" from SPIRITS OF THE DEAD

This 1968 short (37 minutes) by Frederico Fellini is part of an anthology called HISTOIRE EXTRAORDINAIRES,  SPIRITS OF THE DEAD, TRE PASSI NEL DELIRIO, or TALES OF MYSTERY AND IMAGINATION depending on your geographic location,  and is loosely based on stories by Edgar Allen Poe.  Terrence stamp plays a dissolute Shakespearean actor summoned to Rome to star in a "catholic western",  and is quickly swept up in the frenzied glare of papparazzi,  publicity,  and the usual Felliniesque grotesquerie.  Stamp's discomfort is made tangible in the form of a little girl with a ball (see Mario Bava's OPERAZIONE PAURA aka KILL BABY KILL from 1966 for a nearly identical girl,  although here she is filmed and edited in such a way as to question her ghostly presence right up until the film's end).  A Roman interviewer asks:

                                                Do you believe in God?

                                                 No.

                                                And in the Devil?

                                                 Yes.

                                       Can you tell us what he looks like?

                                         To me she looks like a little girl.

As Stamp recklessly drives his newly acquired Ferrari out of the city and in to the Roman suburbs (probably Cinecitta) in an effort to escape both the spotlight and his demons,  the girl's presence intensifies until the title of Poe' story becomes painfully apparent,  "Never Bet the Devil Your Head".  The final scene is wonderfully creepy.  After being tormented by his own disintegration and taunted by the girl,  Stamp attempts to drive his car over a ravine (the bridge was down,  ponte rotto),  and soundlessly disappears. As the camera zooms in on the abyss,  the creaking sound of a slowly jittering wire is heard,  and blood is seen dripping from it.  This scene is only interrupted by the girl, filmed as if seen from the corner of one's eye,  quickly retrieving what appears to be a head.  It is this fall into the abyss that harkens back to Fellini's slippery Catholicism,  as well as our own exhausted and generally resigned beliefs.  A condensed classic for sure!

CIBO: Food, Nourishment

The above was part of yesterday's dinner,  which also included beautiful big rigatoni in a red sauce with homemade meatballs and a nice red wine.  Kale,  roasted red peppers (I love their aroma as it permeates their kitchen while roasting),  ricotta cheese,  and thinly sliced porks cutlets rounded out an excellent meal.  Memories of rustic meals with relatives in Rome abounded.

LOW ARCHITECTURE 8: ZON HYPERBASS

This is an absolutely wonderful four-string fretless bass specifically designed (in 1989) by Joe Zon in collaboration with bassist Michael Manring,  whose work often uses unusual tunings.  Not only does the organic design and deep cut-away make for extended reach of the graphite neck (three octaves!),  but the wonderfully figured wood readily seduces the eye.  Quick tuning and re-tuning is facilitated by four Hipshot keys and two bridge levers that raise or lower all four saddles or can be assigned to a single saddle.  Along with the Bartolini pickup,  there are four Fishman transducers mounted inside the instrument,  in both neck and body.  Talk about sound and fury!