Posted on September 3rd, 2006 in of interest, peripherals, project news and
Nat King Tron (aka the band) has just self-released our second record entitled “In the Presence of Peasants,” an off-the-cuff document of two days of improvised musical experimentation. The tracks were culled from about 10 hours of material, all recorded, engineered, and mastered by our friend Peter Richan at his Buckeye Recording Studio in South Philly. Many thanks also are due to Kara Schlindwein for creating the packaging design with absolutely no direction from us (talk about your difficult client).
The other players in the trio are John Schlicter (aka Sarge), long-time collaborator, Six Acre Lake co-founder, guitar and effects maestro; and Matt Lee (like the General) who wails on alto saxophone, effects, and the bleeps and blips. “In the Presence of Peasants” explores a pretty diverse range of territory, shifting genres and dynamics: indie/math rock, electronic, experimental, metal, jazz. At moment we’re developing our live set to encompass equal parts composed and improvised material.
Easter Bunny is available for download, or you can stream some other tracks from the new release at our page on Mr. Murdoch’s MySpace. Up to date info on our movements can also be found at www.natkingtron.com.
Posted on August 27th, 2006 in activism, musings, of interest and
We work within, for, around (and perhaps against) institutions almost on a daily basis. Artists, as cultural producers, may be even more beholden to or dependent on institutions for various kinds of support; we spend a great deal of time and energy writing and submitting applications to these institutions for grants, residencies, exhibition and publication opportunities. These institutions, in turn, frame our work, wrap it up in their taxonomical systems, their politics and cultural agendas. In a conversation from 2001 entitled The Folds of the Institution, Greg Sholette, Cesare Pietroiusti, and Brett Bloom rapped about this predicament and the various possible tactics and practices artists employ to work critically within institutions. Pietroiusti says,
I think that a good way to define an “institution” is to outline the fact that most of its efforts go in the direction of a self-confirmation of the institution itself. Therefore its activities will be, to a large extent, a “celebration,” a continuous effort to give an image of success, of richness, of effectiveness, of power. It’s obvious that any critical position will be seen as a menace; and, as I am convinced that the artist’s position is basically a critical one, there will be an inevitable contradiction between the artist and the institution. Having said that, I also think that not all the institutions are the same, nor that all their activities have always the same character. It’s true that the institution can have the “power,” so to say, of accepting and neutralizing even critical positions (making them become “trends” in the art market), but I do think that “institutional critique” is more interesting than neo-expressionist painting or sleek corporate photography, because in any case its content (especially in the beginning) provoke the public to pose questions. And then, when it has become a successful trend, no big drama. I think it just means that time has come, for another critical position to appear.
A few years later, Sholette wrote in an essay for republicart (now transform.eipcp.net):
Finally, in order to describe oneself as both artist and political being, or what Pier Paolo Pasolini termed a “citizen-poet,” one must remain ill at ease with the neo-liberalism of post-cold war institutions, especially those that seem all too willing to embrace a prudent form of political dissent, including the unstated demand that curators be culturally inclusive and socially progressive. Despite this uncertainty, and regardless of one’s divided loyalties, we might now seriously consider re-approaching the idea of critical autonomy that groups such as PAD/D attempted to establish more than twenty years ago. I’m not referring here to the modernist notion of autonomy in which the art object is celebrated as something solely in and for itself, transcending everyday life. Rather, I want to propose re-introducing the concept of a self-validating mode of cultural production and distribution that is situated at least partially outside the confines of the contemporary art matrix as well as global markets. In other words, a self-conscious autonomous activism in which artists produce and distribute an independent political culture that uses institutional structures as resources rather than points of termination.
After surveying the lay of the land here in Philadelphia since returning last October, it’s very apparent that this town is in serious need of some critical autonomy and institutional critique from the artists who live and work here. A few of us are finding each other. If you’re reading this in Philly and it resonates in any way, please make contact.
Posted on March 27th, 2006 in of interest and
I knew Bender before he was Bender. And I definitely knew Bender before he was Bender Films, but I saw the gleam in his eye. (Hmmm, I think it was first noticed in 9th grade art class with Mrs. Barney…) Anyway, Jason Lockyer is Bender Films now, and he makes wonderful short films and then gives them to us on a mostly monthly basis. Spend some time with these gems and beneath the humor, play, and whimsy you’ll discover one dude’s earnest investigation of identity, alienation, angst–all that stuff we’ve come to expect from late-capital, postmodern life in these fine United States (especially the City of Angels, where Jason makes his home.)
Bender’s most recent film, Happy Day, is really something. He’s expanded his use of the medium of lo-fi digital animation and created a tiny, compact (albeit dense) world to knock around in for a brief 1 minute 49 seconds.
Posted on February 13th, 2006 in activism, of interest, project news and
Wes Janz, an architectural educator at Ball State University, has initiated One Small Project, a collection of projects related to his forthcoming book: Building More, Wanting Less: architects searching for relevance, one person, and one small project at a time.
The site features a range of projects that operate on the periphery of “proper” Architecture—provisional structures, bricolage tactics, leftover materials, displaced persons, vernacular contexts. Contributions come from architects, designers, artists, activists, and others working across the globe.
You’ll also find my Provisional Monument project included as a contribution to One Small Project. It’s exciting to be included with such a wide array of substantial and critical work.
Posted on January 30th, 2006 in of interest and
Meredith has posted a spot-on critique of leisure-class craftwork on her blog. A recent New York Times article featuring these nouveau spinsters seems to have gotten her a bit riled up–as she is apt to be, and for good reason. Here she weaves together (sorry) issues of gender, labor, DIY, privilege, and late-capital embroiled in post-industrial textile production.
