April 26, 2006
The Dystopia of Decadence
The Dystopia of Decadence
Camille Rose Garcia’s Subterranean Death Clash
by Lauren Cerand
Upon entering the Jonathan LeVine Gallery, the first thing one encounters in Camille Rose Garcia’s Subterranean Death Clash exhibition is a glamorous but forlorn squid, who, despite being liberally made up with black glitter (or perhaps because of it), is being picked apart (or about to be) by a half-dozen shimmering crows. Similarly open-ended questions and a cogent sense of ever-present unease permeate the rest of the mixed media compositions and works on paper that make up a very coherent show.
Hydrocephalic bombshells frolic and swans with elongated, unnaturally curved necks abound in landscapes of lacquered pastiche, mixing shades of the classical underworld with the organic forms of art nouveau. In piece after piece as the viewer moves through the space, darkness-hearkening phrases like The empire digs a deeper hole and This heart’s on fire mingle with teardrops and oily, viscous fluids in a swirl of celebratory despair and nearly mythological fury.
In one somberly framed work, what appears to be torn fragments of vintage wallpaper form a partial backdrop for gleefully destructive robots taunting an oil-slicked swan in what is appropriately identified by the written text, “General Disorder’s Poison Party.”
An entire wall is devoted to sketches and drawings by the artist made as she conceived the exhibition and its attendant narrative, alongside handwritten notes like “Make the whole gallery a cave” and “Taxidermy bejeweled sparkly,” that are only slightly cryptic in the finished space.
As one proceeds through the show, it becomes clear that something sinister is happening in the gorgeous and grotesque environment Garcia envisions, and soon a unifying theme emerges: we’re going to hell in a handbag, and - despite the luxurious accoutrements we surround ourselves with as we consume precious natural resources - it’s not going to be pretty.
In a particularly standout piece (and there are many), a distorted, otherworldly version of a soigné siren holds a candelabra, illuminating both her dark destiny and one simple fact: this Cassandra speaks the truth.
Subterranean Death Clash mines a rich vein to deftly produce devastatingly spot-on political commentary that doesn’t outshine its impressive and wholly original artistic origins. It’s an impressive feat.
On view at the Jonathan LeVine Gallery through April 29.
Online | www.camillerosegarcia.com
Lauren Cerand writes about art, politics and style in New York.
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Kaki King and Kelli Rudick
Kaki King and Kelli Rudick
The Cutting Room
April 24, 2006
by Ross Whitsett
Returning to a small club after building a well known career can always be fun, and when musicians decide to just let go and play with friends it can be quite an intimate experience, for the audience and artist alike. Kaki King, a virtuoso jazz guitarist, was once a struggling artist playing regular gigs in the Tap Room at the Knitting Factory and putting on shows for her friends at Rififi with Danger Mouse cartoons in the background. She has toured extensively for the past three years, opening for artists like Marianne Faithful and David Byrne, and is about to release her third album. Not bad for the former ticket seller at the front door of Mercury Lounge. Of course one of the perks of finding success is that you can always come back and find new ways to expand your art and bring others along with you.
“We’re kind of just going to be fooling around, well I am, she might not fool around a lot, but we are just going to have fun.” King said before the show started. Such was the setting for the early evening performance at the Cutting Room on Monday April 24 of Kaki King and her girlfriend, the experimental musician Kelli Rudick.
They started off playing with King on drums and Rudick with a nail violin—a small box that has a sound like a xylophone that would echo in the resonator. “We didn’t start to practice for this till yesterday.” King reveled to the crowd lightening the mood before relinquishing the stage to Rudick. It seemed to work at first, taking any pressure away, because Rudick seemed quite in her element as she picked up the acoustic guitar. Earlier Rudick had said that the mood she tends to portray on stage, “would have to be one of nervousness.”
Confidently Rudick worked the acoustic guitar strumming and pounding on the side at the same time. The juxtaposition of the high notes—the multiple guitar sounds produced—hand strumming and alternating full rhythms and melodies simultaneously. Rudick balanced a definite finesse and aggression with the guitar at the same time.
When that was over Rudick left the stage to applause and King then played solo on the electric guitar—working a slide with it creating a very oriental sound—like a bow across a metal strip. King utilized the delicate hollow echo creating an electric beat like a synthesizer.
Really giving the audience a treat, King played a cover of the Smith’s song, “Please Please Please, Let Me Get What I Want.” She delicately sang the Morrissey lyrics as she gave a slow, poignant version of Johnny Marr’s guitar chords, a musician King has always she admired.
The night unfortunately wrapped up with Rudick not returning to the stage, attempts were made however to no avail. King played one of her most well known songs, “Playing with Pink Noise,” a jumping, piece that quickens and slows at any minute, that shows the real dexterity of her fingering and epitomizes her freewheeling double melodic creations on the guitar.
King ended up the night improvising on the electric guitar; at one point creating an obvious rock riff that was so poignant in the jazz setting and with no accompanying instruments. Satisfied with her set, time expired for the two artists with a unanimous applause by all. Everyone was fulfilled with the intimate night of songs and improvisation or the two artists, just trying to keep on doing what they love and letting others witness their passion.
Kaki King will be performing four nights at the Living Room is July, she is currently on tour in Italy; her albums are available on Velour Records.
Check out Kelli Rudick at: www.myspace.com/kellirudick1
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April 14, 2006
Quality of Life - Benjamin Morgan
Interview with Benjamin Morgan
Director of "Quality of Life"
by Liberation Iannillo
Photo by: Dave Schubert
"Quality of Life," a new independent film by director Benjamin Morgan, takes its title from the former New York City mayor Rudy Giuliani who used the term to equate graffiti with murder as crimes on a "continuum of disorder.”
Set in San Francisco the film follows two graffiti writers, Mikey (Lane Garrison) and Curtis (Brian Burnam) housepainters by day, they spend their nights bombing their way through the neighborhood until they get arrested. The event is a turning point both in their friendship and their approach to their art. The two friends drift apart as they each redefine what their future will look like. Mikey entertains the idea of applying his skills to a career as a graphic artist while Curtis continues writing and indulges in a nasty drug habit that leads him to an inevitable end.
Director Benjamin Morgan, who co-wrote the film with lead star Brian Burnam, has been on both sides of the fence himself. A former at-risk kid, Morgan has spent over a decade as a government social worker. Together the two deliver a powerful, authentic, and thought provoking film which can be seen here in New York for a limited run at the Pioneer Theater where it has been selling out.
Liberation: The approach you took with "Quality of Life" was very fair, it didn’t pander to the punks or the politicians. As the director and co writer, what is the most important thing you hope people will take away from this film?
Benjamin Morgan: Honestly, when I am writing a script I don’t really think about how people are going to perceive it and I don’t try to hit people over the head with a message. I write for myself and, in this case, Brian Burnam who wrote the script with me. He was writing for himself too which is why I think the graffiti subculture felt it was authentic.
My goal as a filmmaker is to try to get people to think and to talk. I don’t really care where that takes them as long as those goals are met. If they are walking out of the movie and are thinking and talking about it then my job is done. I feel like the kind of films that hit you over the head with a message and try to steer you in a direction insult your intelligence. I was really trying to stir up a dialogue about graffiti, the subculture, and about human relationships.
Liberation: Where did the idea for the film originate?
Benjamin: I grew up in the graffiti subculture myself, I was a b-boy and was involved in breakdancing so the subject matter was near and dear to my heart. I came up with original story and my filmmaking partner, Brant Smith, and I worked on it together for a year. I brought Brian on board who is a very creative writer and in many ways what he was doing was channeling these events that had happened to him the night before. He would tell me this crazy chase story and I would write it down and come back and give him the scene. He would say, “Well, that’s not how it really happened.” So I told him to write it! (laughs) He ended up writing scenes and before we knew it everything that you see on the screen at this point came from Brian.
Liberation: I think the films authenticity definitely comes through. You were also a government social worker in the juvenile system. Did being on both sides of the fence influence you in making the film?
Benjamin: In terms of the film itself, it was not politically motivated, we do not discuss politics in the film. We don’t discuss why people do graffiti or whether it is a good thing or bad thing. Behind the scenes I definitely see the war on graffiti as…it exemplifies everything that is wrong with the justice system better than anything else out there. The biggest flaw with the justice system is that it hyper-focuses on symptoms. You have kids that are breaking the law so you try to stop them whatever way you can without addressing the core issues and the symptoms. The war on graffiti exemplifies that to a T. You are literally painting over the problem. My experience within the system influenced my motivation for making the movie, it pushed me. I felt possessed, like I had to make this movie because it allowed me to address those issues from a grandstand, not in the film, but from the Q & A’s [that followed]. I grew up as an at-risk kid so being involved with the graffiti subculture I understood the motivations for wanting to write your name on someone else’s property. I didn’t feel like I had to delve into that in the film because I was able to channel that through the characters and the actors.
Photo by: Amy Morgan
Liberation: It’s funny you mention the word symptoms. I don’t want to say that graffiti is a victimless crime because at the end of the day someone has to pay to have it removed from their building should they choose to. I wouldn’t put graffiti writers in the same crime category as a murderer. What it comes back to is that one of the symptoms is the lack of an outlet for people to be creative in untraditional genres.
Benjamin: I would have to agree with you that when you are writing on someone else’s property you are committing a crime. I don’t think you can really argue that, though some people do. But to equate that with serious, violent crimes that are worthy of prison time…there’s a guy in LA who just got sentenced to something like 20 months in state prison. Not jail, not rehab, state prison. The same day he was sentenced his family and friends were there waiting for his trial and a person convicted of rape got a lighter sentence then he did. While we shot this movie Dave Leiberman, who played the stick-up kid, was facing 18- 21 months in state prison for graffiti.
Mikey "Heir" Rosario (played by Lane Garrison) on the look-out.
Photo by: Kev Robertson
Liberation: That turns my stomach.
Benjamin: We live in a property obsessed culture so I think people are very protective of their property. I also think this war on graffiti has run away with itself. Politicians latch on to certain things and there are certain sound bites that are very effective like, “three strikes, you’re out!” It’s easier to run with that then it is to address the core issues like our schools are falling apart so we need to invest more money in them and pay teachers more. We need more prevention programs. Those issues are dicey and are harder to get behind because the results are not immediate, unlike painting over graffiti. On some level it doesn’t surprise me that they have become so crazy with the war on graffiti but on another level when you start handing out prison sentences for people writing their name on a wall, it really exemplifies everything that is wrong with our justice system. It’s so hyper-focused on symptoms.
Liberation: I think the justice system needs some work. I was pissed when they sent Lil’ Kim to prison this past year because I thought here is someone kids look up to so why not let her do her time working with inner city school kids in some capacity? Instead they send her off to jail where she will most likely become more hardened and bitter. It was a wasted opportunity.
Photo by: Kev Robertson
Benjamin: I think what you will find a lot with the justice system is that the people who know the system inside and out are not the ones making the decisions, the “three strikes your out law” is a perfect example. That has nothing to do with what works and what doesn’t work within the system. It was based on baseball for Christ’s sake! The judges are furious because they have no say over it. They should be able to deal with the cases on a case by case basis with the facts that are presented and they feel trapped by these mandatory sanctions put on them. It’s a case of politicians putting their hands where they don’t belong and they are in a position of power. They want to get elected and want to get behind a sound bite. People love sound bites. (laughs)
Liberation: What do you think needs to be changed as far as the laws are concerned with graffiti artists so they are not prosecuted and given the same amount of jail time as a hardened criminal?
Benjamin: I think it is part of the larger issue. Prevention funds, education funds, and after-school programs are being cut every year. When the Federal government says something is a priority and we need to do something like invade Iraq or cut taxes for the rich…when there is money to be found they can find it! But when something affects people who don’t have a lot of influence like cutting public school funds and prevention funds, there is no one to stand up and fight for that. I’ve been in the juvenile justice system for a long time both as a worker and as a kid and prevention works. It absolutely works! That’s what they need to invest in.
When you ask what needs to be done differently, you need to invest in prevention. Specifically with graffiti, it’s really complicated because if you just suggested to give these kids more places to create art or invest in art schools and so on, I’m not convinced it would work entirely. A lot of the graffiti writers are rebelling against larger issues and some are just looking for an outlet and want a place to say they exist and have something to live for and to fight for. It’s really much more complex than that.
Kids are looking for outlets and things to do at a younger age and you see kids all around the world, not just in major cities, have latched on to graffiti as this last form of urban rebellion. If there were other outlets for kids to stand up and make a name for themselves in their cities and their cultures, I’m not so sure graffiti would be so popular.
Quite frankly, I think the best way to get rid of graffiti is if all the adults said this is the best thing ever! We love graffiti so much! (laughs)
Photo by: Dave Schubert
Liberation: That’s a very good point. I mean it’s the ultimate renegade art form. In the film, after their arrests the characters take two very different approaches to their work. One goes, for a lack of a better word, more corporate, while the other stays more guerilla. I think the irony is that in the end their work will most likely end up on the same wall. Do you think the media is sending mixed messages as far as graffiti imagery is concerned?
Benjamin: It’s totally ironic and predictable. Anything that is popular with youth is going to be co-opted. On the one hand graffiti is heavily criminalized…Quality of Life has been turned down by sponsors and outlets because it is a graffiti movie and they don’t want to get behind something so controversial. In one instance, and I’m not going to name names, they were playing a horror film, a slasher film, and we called them on it. We were like, “are you kidding? You’ve got this film where they slash people up, chop them into pieces, put them in boxes and graffiti is controversial?” (laughs) Let’s put things into perspective here.
Liberation: What do you feel people’s biggest misconception about graffiti is?
Benjamin: There are a lot of misconceptions. One is that graffiti is gang related. A gang’s motivation is very different from a graffiti crew’s motivation. It’s not always gang related in fact, it very rarely is. Another misconception is that all graffiti writers want to destroy and vandalize. A lot of people involved with graffiti are trying to make art and make things look better. I think you see that a lot with stencils and wheat pastes. Don’t get me wrong there is a segment of the population that are trying to vandalize and it really is about tearing shit up and bombing. It’s really hard to categorize the entire culture under one roof.
Another misconception is that graffiti is this urban phenomenon and the only people participating are inner city, minority kids with problems. I’d say at this point the majority of the people doing graffiti are skinny, white kids who grew up in the suburbs. There are many misconceptions and I think you can see why and how they became that way.
Quality of Life
April 6th - 12th and April 15th - 16th, 2006
Pioneer Theater | 155 East 3rd Street | New York City
Ticket Info | www.qualityoflife-themovie.com
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April 12, 2006
Beth Orton
Beth Orton
Webster Hall
April 11, 2006
by Ross Whitsett
On Comfort of Strangers, Beth Orton has reached a new stage to her career after forging a cult following with her folk songs that contained an electronic edge at times. Comfort is her fourth album and easily her most publicized, with a music video for cable television, constant play on public FM radio, and a 20-gig tour of the U.S.
The whole tour wrapped up on Tuesday April 11 at New York’s Webster Hall, a venue that is one of the more difficult clubs to tolerate in the East Village as a fan of Indie music since it caters usually to a dance club crowd. Even the disrespectful bouncers, and the $10 drinks could not spoil the night viewing on the sweetest, most heart-warming artist around these days.
Orton and company graced the stage well after 10 p.m., starting off with the subtle “Absinthe”—she set the mood with her light harmonica and romantic stories singing, “No I never find my way home,” giving homage to Blind Faith.
She picked it up with the steady beat of “Heartland Truckstop”, “Confidentially, its always as it seems,” such an apt phrase because Orton’s honesty is what makes her stand out, she is exactly as she seems. Throughout the performance she reaffirmed this down to earth image, in between songs she was a bit awkward but it was more just being herself; fumbling with her chords stating, “I’m just a girl,” mocking herself after swearing when her guitar didn’t work, and even responding, ”I love you back” at her fans’ praises.
Easily the focus of the show was the new album—in fact all fourteen songs on Comfort was played. Hence surprisingly enough the radio single, “Conceived” was only the fourth song of the night with the band breezing through it, clearly wanting to get on to some of the more challenging material.
The show glided along with all eyes trained on Orton as her charm toyed with the heart strings of the crowd—made up of a wide range of twenty to forty somethings, college kids, listeners of public radio, and the die hard fans of Beth’s now 10 year solo career.
“Shadow of a Doubt,” leading into “Heart of Soul” both from the new album, filled the venue with her passion as she sang, “I don’t care how much religion you got, just put a little love in your heart.” The non stop flow ebbed into “Shopping Trolley” a bouncing pop song with the bittersweet lyrics, “I think I’m gonna cry, and I’m gonna laugh about it all in time.” After this segment of up-tempo songs, she put the guitar away for a moment and serenaded us with the slow piano track “Comfort of Strangers” revealing to us that, “one love is better than none.”
If there was one thing you could ask for of the show it would have been an appearance by Jim O’Rourke, the guitarist who lately has been moonlighting with Sonic Youth, he produced her album and provided much of the guitar and piano to the tracks. Though her four piece band of guitarist Emmett Kelly, ex-Wilco musician Leroy Bach on bass, and pianist Sean Read were more than proficient; especially drummer Matthew Johnson with his balancing of the delicate mood songs, using brushes and finger tips on the skins into the funkiness of her pop.
The end of the first encore epitomizes her new sound fully, “A Place Aside” includes crescendos up and down in mid-song, creating the bittersweet aura that surrounds Orton. There is a dynamic nature of her songs that utilize an abrupt change of mood from chorus to verse instead of just song-to-song on her earlier work; subtle pop that bounces at one moment then slowly echoes the next.
After an hour and half when the house lights began to go on, she even appeared solo for a second encore treating us with her acoustic cover version of the Five Stairsteps’ classic “Ooo Child”. Reminding one that you can still find moments of awe, like watching Beth Orton and hearing her tell all that, “things are gonna get easier.” At least one night in April we can feel loved by an artist that isn’t afraid to wear her heart on her sleeve, and in fact is congratulated for it instead of having to compromise her vision.
SETLIST:
• Absinthe
• Heartland Truckstop
• Rectify
• Conceived
• Safe in Your Arms
• Stolen Car
• Someone's Daughter
• Shadow of a Doubt
• Heart of Soul
• Shopping Trolley
• Comfort of Strangers
• Sugar Boy
• God Song
• Best Bit
• Countenance
• Pieces of Sky
First Encore
• Worms
• Feral
• Pass in Time (played with the opening msuician Willy Mason)
• A Place Aside
Second Encore
• Ooh Child
• She Cries Your Name
Online | www.bethorton.mu
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