The fruits of my video and music collaboration with John Parker will be on view this Fri, May 12, in Toronto. The exhibition is Mods and Rockers, curated by Sally McKay as part of digifest 2006: mods:
Artist teams are:
* Myfanwy Ashmore & Lorna Mills
* Chandra Bulucon & Andrew J. Paterson
* Rob Cruickshank & Veronica Verkley
* Tom Moody & John Parker
In Britain in the 1960s, mods and rockers frequently clashed in bloody battles. For this exhibition, however, we ask them to merge in the name of art. Four pairs of artists, one Mod and one Rocker per team, will collaborate on art, video and sound works that illuminate the polarities of the partnership.
And here is the statement for our piece, anti-phallically titled Rodmocker, which will be displayed on two TV screens with an asynchronous music soundtrack on CD, playing through headphones:Tom Moody and John Parker
Rather than have some kind of face-off, or rumble, we are merging sensibilities. The collective inner Mod is the high tech influence in the form of some sophisticated audio software and a newish laptop used to edit and burn the video, and the inner Rocker is the low tech source material: 8-Bit-style tunes on an old Mac (some originally composed in the '80s) and animated GIFs by Tom based on MSPaint versions of Web images of John's work.
We're trying for some sort of parity between the audio and visual material. Pixels and square waves are both medium and subject. The work was composed in public, on this blog, over the span of about a month. The posts are documented on John's site eyekhan.com.
If you're in the Toronto area, I hope you will check it out!
You and John Parker have merged the Mod/Rocker sensibilities, but as far as the other artists go, do they tell you who is the Mod and who is the Rocker?
I'm curious about that myself. I will ask Sally.
Neither Myfanwy or I wanted to be rockers, so we went with gargles and gospel.
I'm looking forward to seeing how your stuff transferred to video. I loved the animated gifs that you posted. (And if my piece sucks I plan to stand by your show cases and loudly complain about the Harbourfront staff mixing up the wall tags)
Thanks! Good luck with your end of it. I look forward to hearing about the show.
Here's the so-called curatorial statement: The digifest theme this year is Mods, meaning modifications, modules, and modulations. How very modern! But what of Mods' sworn enemies, the Rockers? Rockers stand for raw, rough readiness: not to be left out! In Britain in the 1960s, mods and rockers clashed in bloody battles. For this exhibition, however, we asked them to merge in the name of art. Eight artists divided into four pairs, each collaborating on two window displays with one shared audio work. The terms "mod" and "rocker" have lots of definitions, and each team took their own direction, riffing on puns and mashing up opposing polar forces. As it turns out, there is a dash of dapper mod and pinch of raucous rocker in each of us.
And by the way... the show is looking totally great! more updates after the opening.
the opening went great! I don't have the mental resources to do a full report (more importantly I dont have pictures yet), but I will get it together soon, including descriptions of the work and artists statements. Here's what I just posted over on my blog:
The Mods and Rockers opening last night went great, and so did the performative lectures! THANK YOU THANK YOU to artists and performers Myfanwy Ashmore, Chandra Bulucon, Susan Bustos, Rob Cruickshank, Amos Latteier, Lorna Mills, Tom Moody, John Parker, Andrew J. Paterson and Veronica Verkley for all your excellent, excellent work! The lectures were both fanstastic, and the art show (which stays up now for almost two months) really sings. For Tom and John in New York, who couldn't attend, tons of people came out and the vibe was grand! I was too high strung to take any pictures, but I will post some soonish (no fear) and I'll make a fuller report next week.
People really liked your piece(s) Tom and John. Among the many, "this is great" comments specific to Rodmocker were "This one is full-on digital!" and "That sounds like farts!" from a gleeful child.
Thanks for the report, Sally. I'm glad it went well. That kid is right--the music has a "flatulent theme" (with the latest effects).
Your videos looked gorgeous. The showcases were masked off to just reveal the flat screens, so it didn't look like tv's playing in vitrines. (unmasked, those cases are really shallow) Rob and Veronica used that shallowness to a brilliant effect with their sideways circus (but a lot of artists haven't in the past.)
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The fruits of my video and music collaboration with John Parker will be on view this Fri, May 12, in Toronto. The exhibition is Mods and Rockers, curated by Sally McKay as part of digifest 2006: mods: And here is the statement for our piece, anti-phallically titled Rodmocker, which will be displayed on two TV screens with an asynchronous music soundtrack on CD, playing through headphones:The work was composed in public, on this blog, over the span of about a month. The posts are documented on John's site eyekhan.com.
If you're in the Toronto area, I hope you will check it out!
- tom moody 5-10-2006 11:30 pm
You and John Parker have merged the Mod/Rocker sensibilities, but as far as the other artists go, do they tell you who is the Mod and who is the Rocker?
- Thor Johnson (guest) 5-11-2006 10:59 pm
I'm curious about that myself. I will ask Sally.
- tom moody 5-11-2006 11:47 pm
Neither Myfanwy or I wanted to be rockers, so we went with gargles and gospel.
I'm looking forward to seeing how your stuff transferred to video. I loved the animated gifs that you posted. (And if my piece sucks I plan to stand by your show cases and loudly complain about the Harbourfront staff mixing up the wall tags)
- L.M. 5-12-2006 12:48 am
Thanks! Good luck with your end of it. I look forward to hearing about the show.
- tom moody 5-12-2006 1:26 am
Here's the so-called curatorial statement:
- sally mckay 5-12-2006 5:45 am
And by the way... the show is looking totally great! more updates after the opening.
- sally mckay 5-12-2006 5:47 am
the opening went great! I don't have the mental resources to do a full report (more importantly I dont have pictures yet), but I will get it together soon, including descriptions of the work and artists statements. Here's what I just posted over on my blog:
People really liked your piece(s) Tom and John. Among the many, "this is great" comments specific to Rodmocker were "This one is full-on digital!" and "That sounds like farts!" from a gleeful child.- sally mckay 5-13-2006 2:40 pm
Thanks for the report, Sally. I'm glad it went well. That kid is right--the music has a "flatulent theme" (with the latest effects).
- tom moody 5-13-2006 6:14 pm
Your videos looked gorgeous. The showcases were masked off to just reveal the flat screens, so it didn't look like tv's playing in vitrines. (unmasked, those cases are really shallow) Rob and Veronica used that shallowness to a brilliant effect with their sideways circus (but a lot of artists haven't in the past.)
- L.M. 5-13-2006 8:19 pm