April 18, 2003
Logan, Utah The Warehouse
The triumphant return of DJ Webern should be the title of this article. DJ Webern aka daveM performed last night in what many heralded as Is this music? and Whats that sound; it sure is scary and intense and Thanks for playing here tonight at the Warehouse, a local abandoned building that the Art Guild of Utah State recently converted into a gallery space by converted I mean that they pump in power from a generator source and have barely swept out enough discarded girders and debris to hang their works and provide space for a buffet table. Weberns set was part of an installation with artist cohort, Ike Bushman, as part of the latters stunning exhibit. Bushman is known for his use of tar and beeswax as his mediums of choice, and tonight was no exception. His works on display were stylistic yet non-representational, free from the baggage often associated with the latter. Hes carefully internalized his influences, and his voice speaks freely in his current work. he's also a bit of a nut and a performance artist -- he entered the exhibit hall in a suit, zooming in on his Honda Scooter as he honked at the droves of slack-jawed gawkers that had to jump out of his way.
"All day I kept saying 'goddamnit' under my breath out of frustration in trying to put everything together," mused Bushman "but it's worth it".
One piece, a mixed medium of a sawed-in-two-pieces door, calking, twine, 600 feet of wire and pink acrylic paint suspended ten feet above the ground was his featured work and focus of Webern and his collaborative efforts. Webern wrote a series of short pieces using sounds from bus and truck engines collected during the duos recent trip to San Francisco random source material Webern pieced together from a scrapped video game he worked on a few years ago and several loops from artists who shall remain nameless the check is in the mail in a Plunderphonics style (that is, mixing together a variety of found sources of existing music a la artists such as DJ Olive, Wobbly, Christian Marclay and, some would say, Rap pioneer Grandmaster Flash). He used these pieces as a skeleton-like form to piece his material for the evening.
Throughout the night he used these sources along with virtual drum-machines via the programs Reaktor and FM7, spinning using the virtual turntable software Traktor and the shareware-but-its-world-famous Audiomulch, all from a single laptop and projected through surprisingly powerful tiny desk-top computer speakers.
Webern opened the set with a slow intro of gurgling bass and what he later told me were samples from a series of turntable scratches of a Tron, the Motion Picture Soundtrack album that filled the room with a bowel-shaking earthquake effect. His previous set, deemed by some as it made me physically ill at some points and my eardrum bled, really was consciously in his mind as he made sure to keep it intense yet withdrawn enough particularly paying attention to volume this time as to not frighten away visitors, children and the elderly.
The set is going great, but Im convinced Im gonna have the Hunta Virus said Webern, as he was sprawled out in a pile of equipment on the ground. Again, the idea of converting this building meant leaving it in a fairly rustic state and keeping it as what seemed a gigantic pigeon coop. Despite the risk of stepping on a rusty nail and piles of pigeon and bat dung and that surrounded him, he stayed focused for the entirety of the three-hour set.
Im only doing this because Im committed to my art said Webern. I just love Ikes work and am grateful hes always thinking of me to DJ this and the other exhibits hes been a part of this year; plus, the free Korean dinner he and his wife Emily always provide is worth the trip alone!
And they did just that: Webern and the Bushmans spent the remainder of the night in their usual haunt Korea House, drinking plum and citron tea, eating popcorn and watching Orange County and Blade along with other featured artist, Jacob Fossum, with whom Webern is musically collaborating with on a yet to be titled student film. Fossum promises it is music in the vein of Radioheads Amnesiac or as Webern says the stuff that existed 70 years before Radiohead that people have only become aware of through the band; I sometimes thank God for Radiohead.
DM
Logan, Utah The Warehouse
The triumphant return of DJ Webern should be the title of this article. DJ Webern aka daveM performed last night in what many heralded as Is this music? and Whats that sound; it sure is scary and intense and Thanks for playing here tonight at the Warehouse, a local abandoned building that the Art Guild of Utah State recently converted into a gallery space by converted I mean that they pump in power from a generator source and have barely swept out enough discarded girders and debris to hang their works and provide space for a buffet table. Weberns set was part of an installation with artist cohort, Ike Bushman, as part of the latters stunning exhibit. Bushman is known for his use of tar and beeswax as his mediums of choice, and tonight was no exception. His works on display were stylistic yet non-representational, free from the baggage often associated with the latter. Hes carefully internalized his influences, and his voice speaks freely in his current work. he's also a bit of a nut and a performance artist -- he entered the exhibit hall in a suit, zooming in on his Honda Scooter as he honked at the droves of slack-jawed gawkers that had to jump out of his way.
"All day I kept saying 'goddamnit' under my breath out of frustration in trying to put everything together," mused Bushman "but it's worth it".
One piece, a mixed medium of a sawed-in-two-pieces door, calking, twine, 600 feet of wire and pink acrylic paint suspended ten feet above the ground was his featured work and focus of Webern and his collaborative efforts. Webern wrote a series of short pieces using sounds from bus and truck engines collected during the duos recent trip to San Francisco random source material Webern pieced together from a scrapped video game he worked on a few years ago and several loops from artists who shall remain nameless the check is in the mail in a Plunderphonics style (that is, mixing together a variety of found sources of existing music a la artists such as DJ Olive, Wobbly, Christian Marclay and, some would say, Rap pioneer Grandmaster Flash). He used these pieces as a skeleton-like form to piece his material for the evening.
Throughout the night he used these sources along with virtual drum-machines via the programs Reaktor and FM7, spinning using the virtual turntable software Traktor and the shareware-but-its-world-famous Audiomulch, all from a single laptop and projected through surprisingly powerful tiny desk-top computer speakers.
Webern opened the set with a slow intro of gurgling bass and what he later told me were samples from a series of turntable scratches of a Tron, the Motion Picture Soundtrack album that filled the room with a bowel-shaking earthquake effect. His previous set, deemed by some as it made me physically ill at some points and my eardrum bled, really was consciously in his mind as he made sure to keep it intense yet withdrawn enough particularly paying attention to volume this time as to not frighten away visitors, children and the elderly.
The set is going great, but Im convinced Im gonna have the Hunta Virus said Webern, as he was sprawled out in a pile of equipment on the ground. Again, the idea of converting this building meant leaving it in a fairly rustic state and keeping it as what seemed a gigantic pigeon coop. Despite the risk of stepping on a rusty nail and piles of pigeon and bat dung and that surrounded him, he stayed focused for the entirety of the three-hour set.
Im only doing this because Im committed to my art said Webern. I just love Ikes work and am grateful hes always thinking of me to DJ this and the other exhibits hes been a part of this year; plus, the free Korean dinner he and his wife Emily always provide is worth the trip alone!
And they did just that: Webern and the Bushmans spent the remainder of the night in their usual haunt Korea House, drinking plum and citron tea, eating popcorn and watching Orange County and Blade along with other featured artist, Jacob Fossum, with whom Webern is musically collaborating with on a yet to be titled student film. Fossum promises it is music in the vein of Radioheads Amnesiac or as Webern says the stuff that existed 70 years before Radiohead that people have only become aware of through the band; I sometimes thank God for Radiohead.
DM
VIEW 13 of 13 COMMENTS
invisigirl:
don't let anyone tell you that you do not have a vivid imagination! photo shoot in prague....."billboarding".....waving my hair around--haha. my hair doesn't wave, it quivers! haha
twinkie_chainsaw:
That was a great review. Axtel is out there, I've actually herd many horror stores about Richfield (it's just south). Man, that some beautiful country but I just would loose my mind in a small town like those. Actually, given the chance I'd move back to SLC so I could be in a "city" but get out to the mountains/desert. But alas, I got to Wisconsin instead...