LUKE MURPHY – aka THE REVEREND LUKE MURPHY – OPENS ‘CERTAINTY SHELTER’ – FRI APRIL 2 / 6-9 PM
the show runs APRIL 2 – MARCH 3, 2009
CANADA – 55 CHRYSTIE – CHINATOWN – NYC
GALLERY HOURS: WED-SUN 12-6PM
THIS is Luke’s third solo show at CANADA.
“In one room with three large digital projections, a central pedestal holds three Geiger counters with their probes pointed at what appears, at first glance, to be an innocuous vase. That vessel however is made of Vaseline glass, also known as uranium glass, which glows with UV fluorescence. The glaze used on Vaseline glass is a mild beta emitter that naturally decays and releases fast-moving electrons and positrons. Each of three Geiger Counters detect the charged particles and sends a unique signal to a computer, which responds by generating the speed, color, placement, and transitions in the three projections. Unlike work that uses random number sequences, which are not 100% random, MURPHY harnesses uranium’s decay to create “perfect randomness”. The use of randomness, the aleatory (from the Latin to roll dice), and chance elements or sources has a long history in art. From the Lascaux cave drawings where the forms of the animals seem to result from the rock formations to Alexander Cozens and his “New Method” of random blots to Strindberg, the Surrealists, Duchamp and cage, the relation of the artist to the random has moved from suggestion and inspiration to a kind of anti-aesthetic. MURPHY believes there are roughly three models of randomness as part of the artistic process: suggestion, inspiration,and subversion. Common to all however is that the random is a strategy to circumvent our normal controls and frames of reference. It is a cipher for nature itself both as a generative and as a destructive force, in other words, the SUBLIME.” – press release
“The time between ticks of the Geiger counter is the wholly unknown that makes up the fabric of the universe. It is the emptiness and unknowability of the machine. The computer translates that sublime unpredictability into a new sublime of information by taking the truly random intervals and making them truly random numbers. Confronting the fact that no tick interval can be predicted is like accepting the reality of a vacuum. It exposed the limits of language and imagination.” –Luke Murphy
PIX – FROM THE LUKE MURPHY – ‘CERTAINTY SHELTER’ – OPENING – APRIL 2, 2009 !!
in the front room, a loop – ‘Good Eye, Bad Eye’ greets you. intense opening shot !!
detail, LUKE MURPHY, ‘Good Eye, Bad Eye’.
detail, LUKE MURPHY, ‘Good Eye, Bad Eye’.
detail, LUKE MURPHY, ‘Good Eye, Bad Eye’.
detail, of the installation loop. LUKE MURPHY, ‘Good Eye, Bad Eye’.
moving on – to the main exhibit room, we notice LESNY JN FELIX, with his camera.
we introduce LESNY to LUKE !! on the right, LUKE MURPHY – the artist of the moment.
LUKE explained some interesting details about the show. first of all – how much he liked the image on the show’s card (above). It’s a commercial news photo he liked so much, that as soon as he saw it – he purchased the right for a one time publication use – and then decided to use it as his card’s image . . . a calling card for the show, so to speak.
it shows: “Iranian artists as they hold up samples of enriched uranium in Mashad, Iran, April 11, 2006.”
REUTERS/Stringer.
as the show unfolds, it’s also apparent the big white birds, were also an inspiration.
LUKE MURPHY in front of his – ‘Barney’s Next Step After Canvas’ !!
LUKE MURPHY – ‘Barney’s Next Step After Canvas’ – an infinite non-repeating digital file.
ok. so in this room there are 3 independent yet connected, large wall projections. ‘Barney’s Next Step After Canvas’, which clearly refers to Barnett Newman’s colors studies; ‘Dance of Perfect Randomness’ which has soaring birds – endlessly mutating out of clouds of a restricted color palette; and,’Draft’ which is more of a kind of indistinct, truly abstract – mass pastel color morph !!
‘Barney’s’ is more literal and linear, figuratively and philosophically. The patterns of the ever-changing ‘statico’ vertical lines – never repeats. It is infinite.
‘Dance of Perfect Randomness’ displays organic representational bird forms in constant evolution and flight, ending in fleeting existence. The pattern never repeats – it is infinite.
‘Draft’ is a cloud of soft color and shape that endless morphs, never repeats and is infinite in its mutations.
a glimpse of ‘Dance of Perfect Randomness’, center, and, ‘Draft’ at right.
LUKE MURPHY, ‘Barney’s Next Step After Canvas’ – watch the vertical lines !!
LUKE MURPHY, ‘Barney’s Next Step After Canvas’.
center – note the flower vase – it is a glowin’ !!
ok. now the tricky part, the magic part. the Rev. Luke Murphy – part !!
all these changes, in each of the 3 formats, like the lines above, in ‘Barney’s’ for example – is keyed into the sputter of a Geiger Counter – as it tracks, ‘truly’ random beats from the ‘glowing’ Vaseline glass vase, aka ‘uranium’ glass !! (which is actually ‘alive’ – emitting naturally decaying electrons and positrons. and glowing with “UV fluorescence” – while attempting to be normal – as it holds flowers !!)
each of the 3 projections has its own Geiger Counter sensitive ‘mike’ – that dictates their changes, their pace and visual evolution & fractile pattern – according to the sensors’ input impact on the computer program that runs each of the 3 digital files. yep. that’s it. its kinda mind blowing and pretty simple, to comprehend – at the same time. Luke does the hidden tech work – and so, thank your lucky tech, NOT !! stars – you don’t need to understand that – to dig the images !! with their endlessly, yet individually ‘defined’ or contained, as in finite !! – formats, i.e. abstract lines, birds, and mass morph – each making beautiful evolutions in the dance of an infinite world (a beautiful concept – just that: i-n-f-i-n-i-t-e !!) purely of the Reverend’s making – and, keyed, as in: K-E-Y-E-D !! to his secret love – the pure randomness of Uranium sourced – numbers !!
well, they don’t call him the Reverend, for no reason . . .
the control console – with the camera flash on – no glow in the vase – but, a better a look at the Geiger counters & sensor mikes !!
. . . “the glaze used on the Vaseline glass (of the vase, aka uranium glass) is a mild beta emitter that naturally decays and releases fast-moving electrons and positrons. Each of the three Geiger Counters detect the charged particles and sends a unique signal to a computer, which responds by generating the speed, color, placement, and transitions in the three projections.” . . . “MURPHY harnesses uranium’s decay to create ‘perfect randomness’.”
see: VASELINE GLASS MANUFACTURERS !!
see: VASELINE GLASS WHAT IS IT & SAFETY/HAZARD WARNINGS !!
see: VASELINE GLASS/WIKIPEDIA !!
. . . the Geiger Counters
the computer that runs the projections – is housed in the base of the console.
LUKE MURPHY – ‘Dance of Perfect Randomness’.
LUKE MURPHY – it was easier to make out the changing, but quickly fleeting birds – on the large wall.
it was a very fluid, but fairly rapid evolution/animation.
LUKE MURPHY – ‘Draft’. completely fluid. as in morphing with no apparent representational ‘code’.
or at least, not in our world, as we currently comprehend it !!
LUKE MURPHY – ‘Draft’.
it was kind of ironic – the one projection in which you could actually hear the Geiger Counter ping and register the corresponding change clearly – was the in the man-made Barnett Newman-inspired composition !! the vertical lines ‘popped’ clearly – in time to the ‘random’ uranium pulse.
see: BARNETT NEWMAN/wikipedia !!
LUKE MURPHY’S non-repeating digital file – ‘Barney’s Next Step After Canvas’.
SARAH BRAMAN – her installation at MUSEUM 52’s booth was the big, and maybe only hit, at this year’s ARMORY.
see: ANABA/SARAH BRAMAN !!
LEIF RITCHEY !! one of the best & brightest !!
see: LEIF AND TOOYA !!
PHOTOS: NANCY SMITH
~LUKE MURPHY/CANADA |
Posted in The Bomb | By Nancy Smith | April 2nd, 2009, 3:43pm
USA IS A MONSTER PHOTO/COURTESY: GLASSLANDS
THURSDAY APRIL 2, 2009 / 9 PM / $7
GLASSLANDS – 289 KENT AVE – BROOKLYN
~USA IS A MONSTER/LIBRARY IS ON FIRE/PTERODACTYL/ DJ SCOTTY KARATE/GLASSLANDS |
Posted in The Bomb | By Nancy Smith | April 2nd, 2009, 3:37pm
PHOTO: ELAINE MAYES, ‘Sweet Pam and Commune Group’, Ashbury Street. August 1968.
COURTESY: STEVEN KASHER GALLERY
ELAINE MAYES – HAIGHT-ASHBURY PORTRAITS – OPENS THURSDAY APRIL 2 / 6-8 PM !!
the show runs: APRIL 2 – MAY 9, 2009
STEVEN KASHER GALLERY – 521 WEST 23 ST. – CHELSEA – NYC
~ELAINE MAYES/HAIGHT-ASHBURY PORTRAITS |
Posted in The Bomb | By Nancy Smith | April 2nd, 2009, 3:32pm
. . . if JOSH was the man – ALFREDO MARTINEZ was the candy man – at QUIET. His shooting gallery was the juice – the non-stop creative engine – of the party. Situated next to the Interrogation Room – its the shots from these assault rifles that punctuate the scenes of the “interrogations” in the movie.
Josh and Alfredo had acquired proper legal “film set production” licenses to run the shooting gallery, and all and any visitors to QUIET – were free to shoot them – under strict supervision. They were real guns, and they were big ones.
P.S. I believe it was ALFREDO – who brought PS1 FOUNDER – ALANNA HEISS – to QUIET. He had been showing some big Robot/Gun installations there.
ALFREDO MARTINEZ is currently in CHINA – as some kind of foreign artist-in-residence – despite his serving time – 2 years in the federal slammer – for forging Basquiats, well that’s another story – back to China – I guess they like ’em – hard core !!
see: ALFREDO MARTINEZ/2008 interview on VICE !!
in anticipation of some new publicity – ALFREDO recently sent us some images of his new ‘gun’ work from BEIJING !!
ALL PHOTOS COURTESY: ALFREDO MARTINEZ
~WE LIVE IN PUBLIC/ALFREDO MARTINEZ |
Posted in The Bomb | By Nancy Smith | April 2nd, 2009, 3:28pm
THEO CERIGO at QUIET. DEC 1999 – JAN 2000.
ARCHIVAL PHOTOS: NANCY SMITH
~WE LIVE IN PUBLIC/the youngest crew member |
Posted in The Bomb | By Nancy Smith | April 2nd, 2009, 3:24pm
ONDI TIMONER. I think she was all of 26 when Josh tapped her to head the 24/7 QUIET FILM CREW !!
he saw some of her early uncut DIG! footage and that sold him right then and there. turns out she was one of the most important young artists at QUIET – she caught the scene at the time & gave voice to our futuristic visions – now, 9 years after the fact – with – WE LIVE IN PUBLIC. it doesn’t just give shape to the guru-like internet prophesies that Josh intuitively tapped and made real, she also caught the man – and the parties – whether the huge chaotic crowd scene at QUIET, or just Josh and Tanya in the Spring St. million dollar loft . . . . and the way things are going, forget the internet, Facebook, reality shows, steaming web video and all – our MAD MAX downtown ground zero – doesn’t seem to be to far off – as the Big Apple takes a big big hit – in the current big depression-era crunch. talk about hard-core wild streets. never mind the homeless tent cities of California – even scrappy L magazine – is talking about the next wave-take over – looks to be the hard core downtown artists, are eyeing Brooklyn’s going nowhere – half built – waterfront luxury condos for squatting rights !! source: ADAM BONISLASKI, ‘BOOM OR BUST?” “New York Artists Prepare for the New Depression”. he ends his article thus: “… there could be a lot of abandoned condo buildings dotting the East River waterfront in the not-so-distant future. If nothing else, artists could set up studios in a few of them as squatters and save themselves a little on rent. [says artist NOAH FISCHER], ‘The important thing is not to be scared. If you’re scared. you’re not going to enjoy being an artist.’ ” – THE L MAGAZINE, MARCH 18-3, 09. PAGES 18-20.
watch: MEET THE ARTISTS: ONDI TIMONER on ‘WE LIVE IN PUBLIC’/SPECIAL THANKS SUNDANCE !!
ok. that’s me.
NANCY SMITH aka artloversnewyork.
I was there at the beginning. one day l’ll tell my story !!
I had a lot to do with the overall concept, ran around like crazy as Josh’s assistant and put up my own art – since we couldn’t leave and I had no materials there – I made paper lanterns out of scraps and wrote ongoing – 5 word – ‘twitter’ commentary – on ‘found’ white ‘performance’ fleece – quilts !!
see some of my paper lanterns – here !!
that’s my kid, THEO. he was 11.
he came with me. it was Xmas holidays and school was out !!
like I said, COLUMBINE had just happened – and yo, the good kids need to know how to shoot too.
and yeah, I got called into his Middle school principal’s office – to explain the situation – “they were prop guns for a movie shoot ?” when pix from QUIET hit the NEW YORK POST, NEW YORK MAGAZINE, THE OBSERVER and just about every other rag in town !!
the ‘QUIET’ dining room – by OWEN BUSH !!
this, and the following frames – are from the SXSW (SOUTH BY SOUTHWEST) YouTube clip: WE LIVE IN PUBLIC !!
JOSH HARRIS – and at right, you can just make out – ALFREDO MARTINEZ.
you’d have to have say ALFREDO was the candy man. His shooting gallery and Owen’s dining hall – were the 2 key elements that juiced up the event – big time !!
It was Alfredo – who introduced me to Josh, as the ‘QUILT’ expert !!
Josh was really into old American quilts. the patterns. the sampling. the origins. the record keeping. as he said, upon being presented with an early 20th Century Mennonite cabin log patchwork quilt – “are you telling me I am looking at a religious artifact ?” – like I said Josh got stuff – right. right away, and then he took the keys and ran.
‘QUIET’ – GUNS, QUILTS & FOOD – there you are – primal America at it’s frontier best !!
watch: WE LIVE IN PUBLIC/SXSW !! on YouTube !!
JUDGECAL.
Josh’s bodyguard & resident hipster. he ran the extreme video games & brought on the VAMPIRES !!
they weren’t bloodsucking – they just liked to party down hard !!
ALEX ARCADIA – he built the Meditation temple – complete with live goldfish swimming around it in a custom-built moat !! and piped-in – Arcadia-world self-composed music.
LEO KOENIG !!
Josh wanted a young, ultra hip, and super-connected art world curator for a small in-house gallery set on the main floor. and to act as spokesman. Alfredo tapped Leo. he was cute, smart, only 22, and his dad ran the German Contemporary Art World – for real, and keep the capitals. I had to second the appointment. I had my doubts, but Alfredo, made it clear in no uncertain terms, that if I didn’t second his choice, I was dead. who’s gonna argue with a manic artist running a shooting gallery loaded with big assault rifles. not I. so I did. the minute Leo was installed – our names, as founding artists, even as participating artists, disappeared from the press releases. what else is new ?
part of the 90+ artist crew in the Japanese style Pod Hotel, built by JEFF GOMPERTZ. you can see Josh in the movie detailing – that he also wanted it be like: NAZI concentration camp death camp bunkers.
MARK ENGER of EXPLODING SKY !! stumbling drunk or what – he still produced for the crew. he’s the guy who silkscreened the ‘target’, as in gun target – embellishments on the crew’s in-house gray work shirts, the standard issue QUIET uniforms – how many you got Mark to put on your shirt – was a real sign of status. and, way before there was a TARGET big box store !!
since the place was open to the public 24/7 – and crowded is not the word – serious crowd hazard is the word – you had wear a work uniform to get around to your job, to eat, and to gain entry to the pod hotel. that was our identity badge.
which to leads – yep BUSTED !! and closed down, by the NYPD (police dept), the NYFD (fire dept) and FEMA in a coordinated raid, one morning shortly after Jan 2nd. FEMA sent in under-cover suits. as if !! early on to see if we were a MILLENNIUM suicide cult ala JONESTOWN !!
WE LIVE IN PUBLIC – ONDI TIMONER’S story of the “greatest internet pioneer you’ve never heard of” – and the oracle-like hardcore downtown NYC artists he ran with. funded and fueled, and let it all hang out, brains, sex, fights, and open to the public – 24/7. QUIET the MILLENNIUM PARTY – was literally open to the public, although it was also in-house surveillance wired – ‘WE LIVE IN PUBLIC’ – proper – the JOSH and TANYA solo project at Josh’s personal loft at SPRING & BROADWAY – was not open to the public in the conventional senses – but it was open to the public via a million cameras – everywhere and we mean everywhere – via real time web streaming on the infant internet.
~JOSH HARRIS/ONDI TIMONER/MEET THE ARTISTS/SUNDANCE |
Posted in The Bomb | By Nancy Smith | April 2nd, 2009, 1:45pm
above: WAVVES – WAVVES – the 1st CD
below: WAVVES – WAVVVES – the 2nd CD
Hey, guess what, the sonic BOOMMM is finally here – WAVVES have landed.
The first 2 CDs by this awesome duo out of San Diego are here to blow you and your mind away. The Neo-Surf music/songs that guitarist/singer NATHAN WILLIAMS and amazing drummer RYAN ULSH thrash out are a ray of sunshine in this desolate ‘PUNK’ and ‘ROLL’ landscape.
The lyrics are totally authentic. Whatever these two (of-the-moment) artist/musicians live and feel, they express clearly and with great force. This music is great “noise” coupled with such catchy melodies and straight-ahead rock that you want to Bang your head all day and night with their music.
I suggest you start at a lower volume to acclimate your ears to the intensity of the music. But to really GET IT !! PLAY IT LOUD. I would also recommend that you listen to both CDs from start to finish, because the noise parts in between the great songs are beautiful. This is music for nobodies going nowhere but Up. My fave songs are ‘California Goth’, ‘Wavves’, ‘Side Yr On’, ‘Beach Goth’, and ‘Teenage Super Party’ on the first CD – titled: WAVVES. While on the second CD – titled: WAVVVES, I like ‘To The Dregs’, ‘Gun in the Sun’, ‘So Bored’, ‘No Hope Kids’, and that monster second version of ‘Beach Goth’.
watch: WAVVES – Part 1 – by Yours Truly !!
watch: WAVVES – Part 2 – by Yours Truly !!
watch: WAVVES – Part 3 – by Yours Truly !!
watch: So Bored [Echo Curio 11-15-08] AVI !!
WAVVES, WAVVES woodisit022 C & P 2008, woodsist.com
WAVVES, WAVVVES, C & P 2009, Fat Possum Records LLC, www.fatpossum.com
(this CD comes with an insert 2 sided full color poster, detailed above – 6th image down)
definite, check out: woodsist !!
~Wavves |
Posted in Indie Music Reviews | By Simon Cerigo | April 1st, 2009, 10:31am
