Not to be missed this Friday at the ASU Art Museum: Brent Green
Brent Green is an artist, filmmaker and musician whose newest installation, Gravity was Everywhere Back Then, opens at the ASU Museum on Friday.
It’s a complicated work: Green discovered the story of a Pennsylvania store clerk who, in some sort of obsessive, pained way, began building an extravagantly large house after his wife was diagnosed with cancer.
Green made a group of short movies about the man, his house and the couple’s love affair; for his installation at ASU, he’s also rebuilding as much of the house as will fit in the venue’s galleries.
The films are an odd amalgam of documentary, narrative, and stop-motion animation. It’s gotten some poignant reviews:
There are tons of bad movies in this world that you can’t wait for them to be over…. Brent Green’s debut animated feature film, Gravity Was Everywhere Back Then -— which is a magnificent movie —- contains a scene of such devastating heartbreak and sadness that I was practically praying that the film would end before I would have to witness it.
He’s been working on the installation as an artist-in-residence for the past three weeks; on Friday you can see the construction and various of Green’s films, with Green accompanying the showing on guitar.
The event runs from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. on Friday at the museum, at Tenth Street and Mill in Tempe on the ASU campus.
Details from the museum here.
Green’s web site is here.
The video above shows Green talking about the project.
Full press release below.
From the museum:
Gravity was Everywhere Back Then, A New Installation by Brent Green
Sep 4, 2010 – Dec 31, 2010 Location: ASU Art Museum Cost: Free Curator: Heather Sealy Lineberry
This fall, the ASU Art Museum will host a new exhibition by well-known artist and filmmaker Brent Green titled, Gravity Was Everywhere Back Then. The project is inspired by the true story of an idiosyncratic house in Louisville, owned by hardware store clerk Leonard Wood. When his wife Mary was diagnosed with cancer, Leonard started building the house room by room, with the tragic hope that his labor would save his wife. Even after Mary’s death, Wood continued to build the house. Over the next 20 years, he strove to bring something as tangible and powerful as his love for Mary into the world.
Gravity Was Everywhere Back Then will feature Green’s version of Wood’s house, transplanted and reconstructed from the artist’s studio in rural Pennsylvania. The house, along with sculptural elements and structures, will be installed in one of the ASU Art Museum’s galleries, where it will appear to be both constricted by and bursting out of the space. Video and sound pieces will be shown inside and around the house to create an immersive environment.
Green will be in residence for three weeks at the ASU Art Museum, Aug. 16 – Sept. 3, installing the exhibition and interacting with students and school groups. Students from MetroArts High School in Phoenix, guided by Sue Chenoweth, and ASU Intermedia students, guided by Angela Ellsworth and Gregory Sale, will work closely with Green in the gallery as he installs his house, sculpture and films.
Green lives and works in a barn in Cressona, PA. His work is a regular feature at Sundance and he has performed at The Hammer Museum, The Wexner Center and The Getty Museum of Art. In 2007, Green screened three works and performed a live soundtrack at the 11th Annual ASU Art Museum Short Film and Video Festival. Recent solo shows include Site Santa Fe (2009) and the Contemporary Art Museum, St. Louis (2008). Upcoming exhibitions and performances include the Museum of Modern Art, New York; Berkeley Museum of Art, CA; Site Santa Fe Biennial; the American Visionary Art Museum, Baltimore; and Diverse Works, Houston. As part of MoMA’s exhibition of Creative Capital artists (Green is a 2005 Creative Capital Grant recipient), the Museum will host a screening of several of Green’s short films followed by a live performance with members of the music group Califone and indie rock legends Fugazi.
3:41 PM
New construction at the Heard Museum
From the PBJ:
The Heard Museum is undergoing renovations and is using a recent Piper grant to help pay for the work.
The $300,000 project will include a coffee bar, shop and bookstore with a $150,000 from the Virginia G. Piper Trust helping to finance the renovation, said Heard spokeswoman Deb Krol.
The project will relocate and expand the museum’s bookstore and create a coffee bar and cantina, which will offer up drinks and food in a casual atmosphere. The Heard Museum Cafe will continue its operations as a full-service sit-down venue.
Full story here.
7:33 AM
For world music fans only! The concert line-up at the Musical Instrument Museum
I haven’t seen this posted anywhere, and it’s hard to find on the new museum’s site.
The new theater is a cool 299-seat affair. The museum says tickets will range from $25 to $75; tix for King Sunny Ade, the biggest name here, are $48 and $58.
The venue is booked by Sunni Fass, who is billed as its managing and artistic director.
Tickets for all shows go on sale on Thursday, online at www.themim.org or by phone at 480-478-6001.
Here again is what the theater looks like:
Below is the venue’s first calendar. Commentary is by the museum:
Sunday, April 25, 2010 at 6:30 p.m.
Laurie Lewis with Tom Rozum
Recognized for her ability to incorporate traditional bluegrass instruments and vocals into an
exciting musical style all her own, Grammy award-winning fiddler, singer, and songwriter
Laurie Lewis provides a seamless mix of pure country and classic bluegrass.
Ticket Prices: $32-$36
Wednesday, April 28, 2010 at 7:30 p.m.
Nation Beat
Nation Beat fuses music from the southern United States and northeast Brazil, producing an
adventurous and colorful new sound.
Ticket Prices: $25-$30
Friday, April 30, 2010 at 7:30 p.m.
Melody of China
San Francisco’s premier Chinese music ensemble, Melody of China promotes Chinese classical,
folk, and contemporary music, creating synergy between ancient traditions and American youth
culture.
Ticket Prices: $25-$30
Sunday, May 2, 2010 at 2:30 p.m.
Los Texmaniacs
2010 Grammy winners Los Texmaniacs create a unique Tex-Mex groove that blends Texas rock,
conjunto, well-cured blues, and R&B riffs.
Ticket Prices: $32-$36
Friday, May 7, 2010 at 7:30 p.m.
Boulder Acoustic Society
Old-school but never old, the indie-folk band Boulder Acoustic Society is the new wave of
American roots music, a diverse and modern mix of blues, folk, gospel, rock, and world music.
Ticket Prices: $25-$30
Saturday, May 8, 2010 at 7:30 p.m.
Sunday, May 9, 2010 at 2:30 p.m.
Sierra Leone’s Refugee All-Stars
Formed by a group of refugees displaced during the Sierra Leone Civil War, Sierra Leone’s
Refugee All-Stars is a reggae-influenced band with a humanitarian purpose.
Ticket Prices: $40-$45
Wednesday, May 12, 2010 at 7:30 p.m.
Pnina Becher
Israeli-American pianist Pnina Becher, now living in Arizona, has sold out concerts everywhere
from the prestigious Melbourne International Arts Festival to guest performances with orchestras
in the United States, Europe and Israel.
Ticket Prices: $32-$36
Thursday, May 13, 2010 at 7:30 p.m.
King Sunny Adé & His African Beats
A pioneer of modern world music, legendary Nigerian performer King Sunny Adé and his 13-
piece band will present his signature interpretations of Jùjú music rooted in the Yoruba tradition.
Ticket Prices: $48-$58
Saturday, May 15, 2010 at 7:30 p.m.
R. Carlos Nakai
R. Carlos Nakai is the world’s premier Native American flute virtuoso. An adventurous artist of
Navajo-Ute heritage, Nakai explores both traditional and cross-cultural uses of the flute,
including the genres of world, new age, jazz, and classical music.
Ticket Prices: $30-$38
Sunday, May 16, 2010 at 2:30 p.m.
Rani Arbo and daisy mayhem
Rani Arbo and daisy mayhem offer a jubilant mix of traditional, original, and contemporary
sounds. The group’s four-part harmonies meld with fiddle, guitar, bass, and a suitcase drum to
create a fusion of American roots music, contemporary pop, and jazz.
Ticket Prices: $25-$30
Tuesday, May 18, 2010 at 7:30 p.m.
Wednesday, May 19, 2010 at 7:30 p.m.
Cimarrón
Cimarrón, a seven-piece ensemble of musicians and dancers led by harpist Carlos Rojas
Hernández, are masters of the joropo llanero tradition, the festive dance music of Colombia’s
cattle-rearing plains.
Ticket Prices: $25-$30
Friday, May 21, 2010 at 7:30 p.m.
William Eaton
William Eaton’s vibrant performances feature new and innovative takes on classical guitar and
showcase his handmade avant-garde stringed instruments.
Ticket Prices: $30-$38
William Eaton will also be presenting a matinee lecture/demonstration in the MIM Music
Theater on May 22nd. Details to be announced.
12:23 PM
How many museums does the East Valley need?
At least three, apparently. These are historical museums, which, the East Valley Tribune says, are undergoing some philosophical changes, though what those changes might be aren’t really spelled out:
Museums of history have suffered more than science or other kinds in recent years as technology and interactive experiences have transformed nearly every aspect of society and made history seem dull.
Museum operators say East Valley history museums will change significantly with more interactive displays and more traveling exhibits. A new museum planned in downtown Chandler signifies what most museums are trying to become. The city is planning a 25,000 square foot building downtown that is seen as the anchor of the arts and culture district. It would feature gathering places for speakers and performances amidst displays that would change frequently so visitors would have a reason to return frequently.
Turns out Mesa and Tempe already have their own local historical museums, though why they exist is a little unclear; even the Phoenix Museum of History at Heritage Square shut down last summer.
9:07 PM
A walk through the new Musical Instrument Museum
“Every time I come up, I see something new,” Alan di Perna is saying. We’re looking at an musical instruments, an accordion- or harmonium-related construction, made of some gorgeously crafted wood.
There is no explanation of what precisely the instrument is yet, because the setting, the city’s new Musical Instrument Museum, is still under construction, and this particular spot—the “Free Reeds” section of the European Gallery—hasn’t yet been finished. But workmen are everywhere and that’s why di Perna—who as a longtime editor and writer at Guitar World, among other places, is an expert in his own right—is seeing new things every day.
The museum is a big affair, a structure of nearly 200,000 square feet on a 20-acre site in North Phoenix, on Tatum just south of the 101. It’s largely funded by Robert Ulrich, the retired longtime CEO of Target, now a Paradise Valley resident. It’s scheduled to open at the end of April.
Besides eight main galleries it boasts a swanky 299-seat theater in which is already booked a fairly sophisticated lineup of world music acts, meaning that the museum is going to be the latest live concert venue in the Valley as well.
Di Perna, who besides being a longtime music journalist is the author of a couple of books on guitars, moved to the Valley 11 years ago and took a position with the new operation recently.
He was kind enough to give PHXated an early walk through.
The structure has two floors, each united by a grand arcing corridor:
On the top floor are the museum’s raison d‘etre: Five spacious galleries, each devoted to a region: North America, Europe, Africa and the Middle East, Asia, and Latin America and the Caribbean.
Each gallery has a maze of regional or thematic enxhibits, most with instruments and a video screen. All visitors get headsets with the (somewhat steep) $15 admission; as you near each video screen, the sound automatically rises in your headsets and you can listen to the accompanying video, mostly of performances using the nearby instruments on display.
The North American gallery has a wide variety of elements, from displays devoted to (and funded by) instrument makers like Fender and Martin to various musical genres, everything from klezmer to hip hop.
The museum didn’t want photos of unfinished exhibits taken, but here are a couple of the completed ones I saw. This one, obviously, is the klezmer installation:
And here’s part of the polka one:
Downstairs are a few specialty galleries—one, of course, devoted to the guitar. That was undergoing heavy construction so we couldn’t see all of it, but di Perna pointed out a lyre dating back to the early 1800s hanging near a modern instrument to which it bore more than a passing resemblance, a 1958 Danelectro baritone guitar.
The other is a sort of celebrity room, for which the museum has collected a lot of instruments that were played on some famous recordings: Clapton’s Layla guitar, for example, and the plain brown upright John Lennon recorded “Imagine” on. (This is as opposed to the iconic white grand piano used in the early music video Lennon made with Yoko Ono.)
There’s also the first Steinway ever made, a 1836 piano Henry Steinway$$ made in his kitchen.
The museum’s inclusion philosophy is a broad one. Di Perna quotes one of the museum’s curators: “No high, no low; no art, no pop”—meaning that there are no restrictions along those lines. Everything is included, from indigenous African instruments to, well, to an ’80s-ea set of syn-drums from Belarus.
The museum will also do actual traveling exhibits; the first one, American Sabor, about Latin America’s influence on North American pop culture, will open later this year.
We concluded the tour with a look at the theater:
Details on the museum’s grand opening events on April 24 and 25 are here. Tickets for the first two “grand opening” days—and for any time after that—go on sale Thursday.
1:19 PM
SMOCA shakeup!
One of the Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art’s senior curators, Claire Schneider, has been laid off. It’s a fairly significant loss for the museum, brought on by the continuing budget cuts that have already severely lowered the organization’s exhibition fund.
Sources in the museum say its new director, Tim Rodgers, was presented with the fait accompli of having to lose a senior position in the organization when he took the job late last year. (Director is the museum’s top position; Rodgers came from the Santa Fe Museum of Art.)
Schneider was for ten years a curator at the Albright-Knox, a contemporary art museum in Buffalo. She was brought to SMOCA in 2008 by longtime director Susan Krane, who a few months later left for San Jose. The museum had been without a director for a year, ending with the appointment of Rodgers in November.
Schneider, like many museum leaders, had been frustrated with the ever-contracting attention museums were getting from the mainstream press. She’d lately organized a periodic meeting between local curators and local writers and editors, PHXated among them, to discuss how local art institutions should attack that problem head on.
An Arizona Republic story on Schneider’s arrival in town here.
Her departure comes at a time of no little chaos in the Scottsdale city arts infrastructure of which SMOCA is a part. The museum, the performing arts center and a public art organization all exist under the umbrella of the city’s cultural council. The cultural center’s artistic director left after being on the job less than a year last month; a few weeks later, four of the cultural council’s board of trustees resigned en masse.
11:54 PM