LARMAGAZINE.019 Revivals. Avant Garde No019 · jun jul 2015

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Francesco Merletti, Series L’arte di stare in pubblico, 2006

DIRECTOR / ADVERTISING Catalina Restrepo Leongómez catalina@lar-magazine.com EDITOR / TRANSLATOR Daniel Vega serapiu@hotmail.com ART DIRECTOR / DIGITAL PRODUCTION Judith Memun judith@lar-magazine.com EDITORIAL COORDINATOR Valeria Castro info@lar-magazine.com WRITER AT LARGE Emireth Herrera emi.heva@gmail.com. Contributors Marisol Argüelles, Inga Lāce, Daniel Vega, Homero V. Campos. Aknowledgments Gonzalo Ortega, Roberto Pulido, Rosanna Magro, Sonia Becce, Jose Maria Lafuente. Photography & Video Courtesy of the artists, Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art, BOZAR Centre For Fine Arts, La Biennale di Venezia, Museo de Arte Contemporáneo de Monterrey MARCO. FOUNDERS Catalina Restrepo Leongómez & Judith Memun.

Revivals. Avant Garde No019 · jun jul 2015

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EDITORIAL LEER EN ESPAÑOL

Revivals. Avant Garde

To explain what Art is in a universal way is impossible. We could ask many experts, who would all say different things but would surely agree with only one: art is something in constant change. When certain guidelines and canons are defined as established, beneath there’s a generation changing the rules to reinterpret “that” which stands for art.

For decades in museums and galleries, we’ve been bumping into objects that don’t say much at first sight, pieces that with no intervention, gallery text, catalog or artist explanation, would not be able to transmit their whole meaning. Conceptual art is completely established; for that reason, I also sense some movement underneath that could shake things up. Personally I love this idea, that we are entering a moment of radical changes and not because I have something against conceptual art, but because changes excite; to analyze things differently is always stimulating.

For some years now I’ve found artists who recover qualities that seemed out of focus, for example: technical and manual qualities, the singularity —and originality— of the pieces, interest for architecture, forms, spaces, etc. And I see that today, on one hand there are those that have a lot of strength and keep validating (if I may say) ultra-conceptual creations, and on the other those who are fed up with that and look for proposals that —from the first encounter— invite to feel more than to understand something; artists whose aesthetics much remind me of German Expressionism, Impressionism, Surrealism, Futurism, Constructivism, among other movements of modernity.

I would think that this resurgence has to do with Spiral Dynamics and the course of history, where everything is repeated sooner or later, always from a different point. Past catches up with us, whether conscious or unconsciously. It makes us analyze that which mattered before, which is revived in the present and is here to redefine it. Maybe we don’t make a full research about such phenomena in this issue, but we at least put it on the table.

This may still be a very abstract idea, but what I want to say is very clear, for example, in painting; although there are artists that have never stopped seeking to transmit emotions and feelings through their work, we can see now that many —and more and more are relatively young artists— highlight this quality, a feature that again has great relevance regardless of the fact that just a few years ago it may had seem a romantic idea of art, completely out of context and outdated.

It’s the case of Amilcar Rivera, whose work not only reminds us of German Expressionism, but also of the post-war spirit, a lot like the collective sentiment felt today in México; Karen Dana and Francesco Merletti, whose compositions and constructions about the human body in his paintings reminds much of Otto Dix or some of his contemporaries; Julia Carrillo, Marlon de Azambuja and Anibal Catalan, who are interested in forms, construction and occupation in the space and somehow explore concerns that have to do with architecture, a subject directly related to modernity. On the same line, but more linked to an interest in design, the ornamental and utilitarian, we showcase the work of Edgar Orlaineta. Meanwhile, Pablo Cotama explores painting as a material itself and its possibilities in spatial terms.

This issue also features a great article written by Marisol Argüelles, where she makes an analysis of generational changes and what is known as zeitgeist. Plus, Latvian curator Inga Lace shows us her vision on modernity through the reading she makes of the exhibition Visionary Structures. From Johansons to Johansons, which was presented at the Bozar Art Center of Brussels through the Latvian Centre of Contemporary Art, which we also recommend on this edition. Plus Emireth Herrera tells us about the work of Gutai Collective, without a doubt a referent of the resurgence of some aesthetics and interests of modernity.

Our special guest is Federico Jordan, Mexican illustrator born in Saltillo, Coahuila, widely renown internationally and whose exploration of design is also a reference to past trends. And finally, our dear editor Daniel Vega presents an interview with Randall Dunn, Seattle-based underground producer who talks about his work with artists like Earth, Marissa Nadler and Wolves in The Throne Room.

Here’s an invitation for you to enjoy LARMAGAZINE.019. Don’t miss the interactive game which is a trivia about modern art, and as always, I hope you like this issue as much as we loved doing it.

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EDITORIAL BACK TOENGLISH

Resurgimientos

Decir qué es Arte de una manera universal es imposible. Podríamos preguntarle a muchos expertos, que dirían cosas diferentes entre ellos pero seguramente estarían de acuerdo en una sola: que el arte es algo que cambia constantemente. Cuando se definen ciertos lineamientos y cánones como establecidos, debajo hay una generación cambiando las reglas para reinterpretar “eso” que se entiende por arte.

Llevamos décadas encontrando en museos y galerías objetos que a simple vista no dicen nada, piezas que sin una mediación, texto de sala, catálogo o explicación del artista no podrían transmitir del todo su significado. El arte conceptual está totalmente instaurado, y por lo mismo, también presiento que hay algo debajo que se mueve y que podría desestabilizar las cosas. Personalmente me encanta percibir que esto podría ser así, que estamos entrando a un momento de cambios radicales, y no porque tenga algo en contra del arte conceptual, sino porque los cambios emocionan; ponderar algo de manera diferente es siempre estimulante.

Desde hace algunos años me vengo encontrando con artistas que rescatan cualidades que parecían estar fuera de foco, por ejemplo: la calidad técnica y manual, la singularidad —y en ese sentido originalidad— de las piezas, el interés por la arquitectura, las formas, los espacios, etcétera. Y puedo ver que actualmente por una parte están quienes dan mucha fuerza y siguen validando un tipo de creaciones (si se pudiera decir) ultra-conceptuales, y por otra los que ya están hartos de eso y buscan propuestas que desde un primer encuentro inviten a sentir, más que a entender algo. Artistas cuya estética me recuerda mucho al expresionismo alemán, al impresionismo, surrealismo, futurismo, constructivismo, entre otros movimientos de la modernidad.

Pensaría que este resurgimiento tiene que ver con la llamada Dinámica Espiral y el curso de la historia, en donde todo se repite tarde o temprano pero siempre desde otro punto. El pasado nos alcanza de manera consciente o inconsciente; nos hace analizar aquello que importó antes, que se revive en el presente y está aquí para redefinirlo. Es un fenómeno que si no alcanzamos a investigar de lleno en esta edición, por lo menos logramos ponerlo sobre la mesa.

Tal vez esta sea una idea muy abstracta aún, pero lo que quiero decir es muy claro, por ejemplo, en la pintura. Si bien hay artistas que nunca han dejado de buscar transmitir emociones y sentimientos por medio de su obra, podemos encontrar que ahora muchos —y cada vez más son autores relativamente jóvenes— resaltan esta cualidad, una característica que vuelve a tener gran relevancia sin importar que hasta hace algunos años podía parecer una idea romántica del arte, totalmente fuera de contexto y desactualizada.

Es el caso de Amilcar Rivera, cuyo trabajo no solo nos recuerda al expresionismo alemán sino al espíritu de posguerra, muy parecido al sentimiento colectivo que se percibe hoy en México; también Karen Dana y Francesco Merletti, cuyas composiciones y construcciones del cuerpo humano en sus pinturas recuerdan mucho a Otto Dix o a varios de sus contemporáneos. Por otra parte Julia Carrillo, Marlon de Azambuja y Anibal Catalan, quienes muestran un interés por las formas, construcción y ocupación en el espacio; de alguna forma exploran preocupaciones que tienen que ver con la arquitectura, tema que concierne directamente a la modernidad. Por esta misma línea, pero tal vez ligado más a un interés sobre el diseño, lo ornamental y utilitario, presentamos el trabajo de Edgar Orlaineta. Pablo Cotama por su parte, indaga sobre la pintura como material mismo y sus posibilidades en términos espaciales.

En esta edición publicamos un magnífico artículo escrito por Marisol Argüelles, en el que hace un análisis justamente de los cambios generacionales y lo que se conoce como Zeitgeist. Por otra parte, también la curadora letonesa Inga Lace nos presenta su visión sobre la modernidad a través de la lectura que hace sobre la exposición Visionary Structures. From Johansons to Johansons, llevada a cabo en el Bozar Art Center de Bruselas por el Latvian Centre of Contemporary Art, que a propósito, también recomendamos en esta edición. Emireth Herrera por su parte nos habla sobre el trabajo del Colectivo Gutai, sin duda un referente del resurgimiento de algunas estéticas e intereses de la modernidad.

Nuestro invitado especial de esta edición es Federico Jordan, ilustrador mexicano nacido en Saltillo, Coahuila, reconocidísimo internacionalmente y cuya exploración en el diseño hace también una referencia a tendencias del pasado. Y como siempre, nuestro queridísimo editor Daniel Vega nos presenta en el especial de música una entrevista con el productor underground de Seattle, Randall Dunn, quién habla sobre su trabajo con Earth, Marissa Nadler y Wolves In The Throne Room. Los invito a que disfruten de LARMAGAZINE.019. No se pierdan el juego interactivo, una trivia sobre arte moderno, y como siempre, espero les guste esta edición tanto como a nosotros nos gustó hacerla.

DESLIZA PARA LEER

Editorial

Revivals. Avant Garde

Article

Zeitgeist by Marisol Argüelles

Article

Some Notes on the Clock,

Mobility and Time Going

Backwards in Relation to the

Exhibition Visionary Structures

byIngaLāce

Artist Portfolios

Edgar Orlaineta

Anibal Catalan

Amilcar Rivera

Karen Dana

Marlon de Azambuja

Francesco Merletti

Pablo Cotama

Julia Carrillo

Article

Gutai. An Experimental Universe

by Emireth Herrera

CONTENTS

Recommended

Artist Rooms: Roy Lichtenstein

Scottish National Gallery

Edinburgh, Scotland

Visionary Structures. From

Johansons to Johansons

BOZAR Centre For Fine Arts

Brussels, Belgium

Stanley Kubrick

Museo de Arte Contemporáneo

de Monterrey. México

All the World's Futures

La Biennale di Venezia

Venice, Italy

Special Guest

Federico Jordan

Interview

Federico Jordan

by Emireth Herrera

Music

Randall Dunn: Interview

by Daniel Vega

TAP ARROWS TO GO

"YOU CAN UNDERSTAND NOTHING ABOUT ART,

PARTICULARLY MODERN ART, IF YOU DO NOT UNDERSTAND THAT IMAGINATION IS A VALUE

IN ITSELF."

MILAN KUNDERA

LEER ENESPAÑOL

SOME NOTES ON THE CLOCK,

MOBILITY AND TIME GOING

BACKWARDS IN RELATION TO

THE EXHIBITION

VISIONARY STRUCTURES

by Inga Lace¯

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The time I went to school in Riga was marked by several visual and spatial reference points. One of them is connected to arriv-ing at the train station where I would always look at the clock of the Riga central station, located on the top of a tower built in the mid-1960s. The numbers showing the time are placed so high up that I would see them from the street and while going back, and I would always be able to realize whether I would get the train in time or not.

The same clock tower, but from a different time and with a multi-programme light system, is represented in the exhibition Visionary Structures, currently on show in BOZAR, Brussels. The light system for the tower was conceived in 1980 as part of the Riga Central Railway Station reconstruction project, designed by the Latvian artist Jānis Krievs, 1942. It comprised the benchmarks of the pe-riod—aesthetics, dynamics and precision. The tower was visible from a distance and quickly became a landmark in the city centre. Countless sources of light from the electronic-dynamic light sys-tem built into the tower formed mutable geometric images with the intervals of minutes and seconds. Each programme lasted 60 seconds, thus making it an important part of the city’s time system and allowing everyone to keep track of the motion of time.1 Due to technical complexities and a frequent necessity for maintenance, the light system was removed a few years after its installing. The

Riga Central Railway Station clock tower with multi-programme light system, 1980. Authors: Jānis Krievs, Aivars Bērziņš, Israel Blumenau, etc.

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ARTIST

PORTFOLIOS

Julia Carrillo

México

Karen Dana

México

Edgar Orlaineta

México

Marlon de Azambuja

Brazil

Pablo Cotama

México

Anibal Catalan

México

Amilcar Rivera

México

Francesco Merletti

Italy

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Suspended, 2014

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Edgar Orlaineta

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Suspended, 2014

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Edgar Orlaineta

TAP IMAGESCon la mano en el ojo - con el ojo en la mano, 2014-15

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Edgar Orlaineta

Con la mano en el ojo - con el ojo en la mano, 2014-15

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Amilcar RiveraPULL TAB

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Se mueven, 2013

Declaración del artistartist tat ent

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Amilcar Rivera

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Amilcar Rivera

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Amilcar Rivera

Sábado, 2013

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"ART CANNOT BE MODERN. ART IS PRIMORDIALLY

ETERNAL."

EGON SCHIELE

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Panamericano, 2015

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Techo Estrellado, 2011

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Francesco Merletti

L’arte di stare in pubblico, 2006

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Francesco Merletti

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Francesco Merletti

Predatrici, 2012

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b y m a r i s o l a r g ü e l l e s

ZEITGEIST1/5

When we think about the artistic movements that preceded us we usually imagine they hap-pened as a result of the unanimous will of a whole generation. We think of artists as a sup-portive guild that, hand in hand, set way to a fixed, clear and well visualized point. I’m not saying it didn’t happen in some cases —the pre-Raphaelites, for example—, but in many oth-ers it’s evident that the great changes were actually a re-sult of the sensibility that permeated a society, and that said sensibility is also a product of a certain moment where the political, the aca-demic, the religious and per-sonal flow together: the in-dividual facing himself and the collective facing its time.

That is why it is not strange to see artists shaking off gen-erational tags, partly because those transformations weren’t always originated from a manifest or a particular leadership: ar-tistic sensibility —from creator or spectator—, which gives continuity or breaks with tradition, is largely determined by a cultural atmosphere and a shared past. This “group negation” phe-nomenon was present in Spanish writers and plastic artists as well: Dámaso Alonso rejected the existence of a thing such as the “’Genera-tion of ‘27” arguing the absence of a leader, a national or international event originating it, or even a shared writing style. Also, Mexican artists that we relate to the “Rupture” today didn’t have the will to constitute themselves as a group, or even calling their whole body of work “rupturist”, as they were renown after Octavio Paz gave them that name. The 70s in México al-lowed a phenomenon where, consciously and

"... CHANGES WERE ACTUALLY A RESULT OF THE

SENSIBILITY THAT PERMEATED A

SOCIETY..."

with a determined purpose, artists constituted themselves in groups —Proceso Pentágono, Suma, Tetraedro, TAI—, organizing themselves around a sense of collectiveness far from indi-vidualisms and the author’s stamp. In the same decade the group of young poets self-named “infrarealists” wrote a manifest and found in the clan formula the only tool to face the estab-

lished writers of their time.

To be or not to be “genera-tion”, a problem that gets more complex with time if we consider that now the coincidences that may have happened within the Euro-pean countries in the 19th Century —and early 20th in México—, and that triggered the creation of a nationalist spirit and with it a desire to forge an own identity, now seem to blur towards the im-

posing wave of information that circulates in a hyper connected world, where the spirit of change is originated and transmitted in a global level spreading at impressive speed.

A certain collectivity is formed from that, one which is not necessarily formed among com-patriots, and that encourages a sensibility that is relatively-shared but with the sufficient nur-ture to generate certain simultaneities that can be understood as an answer to the global con-text. And it is precisely here where it is worth to pay attention to a phenomenon that happens these days: after the overwhelming arrival of Postmodernity and its impressive critical appa-ratus, today things seem to be turning towards a new figuration that regains the vilified notion of “expression” as an expressive objectivity. Is

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this a symptom that surpasses a formal search and inserts itself into a political-social context? It may be so.

The most evident argument forces me to re-member that the artist is not a countryless her-mit, he comes from a tradition, a school or at least a group that, no matter how small, is per-meated by a cultural, social and political atmo-sphere. Both the creative process and the aes-thetical enjoyment may be a result, first, of an individual perception phenomenon, but the language —either verbal or non verbal— uses certain communicable and partially consensual codes that part precisely from a verifiable truth. Or wasn’t Post-War painting in the United States

linked to a political environment, despite the artists’ try to set apart from it? Because it is important to say that the abandonment of the figurative, the quest for expression at its most elemental understanding, and the idea of “art for art” were, beside from an aesthetical search, a reaction to the war disasters with the help, of course, of the most influential critic of the time: Clement Greenberg, who was the flag-bearer of the idea of “art for art” along the many decades of the 20th Century. Also, Harold Rosenberg said the most representative thing about the spirit of that pictorial movement: “a painting is not the

picture of a thing, it’s the thing itself”1. Authors like Rothko, De Kooning and Pollock were in fa-vor of creative freedom inspired by emotional expression.

Modernist aesthetics based their precepts on philosophers like Kant, and on the 20th Century, Edward Bullough, Clive Bell and Roger Fry rein-forced the idea of the free interpretation of a work of art over its time and context. It maybe was a way of de-politicizing the artistic object, or of giving it a universality that encouraged the idea of art as an experience through the senses, despite knowledge itself, of its place in history or of any local ingredient. Minimalism had its peak and abstract painting gained an unequalled

terrain. But Greenberg’s kingdom wouldn’t last forever. According to another great art critic and historian, Arthur Danto, there is an exact date for the “end of art”; that is how he calls the day and hour when Andy Warhol exhibited the famous “Brillo Box” sculptures at the Stable Gallery, in 1964. Danto claims that this artistic gesture brought an end to what then was under-stood as Art, introducing a philosophical ques-tion: “What is the difference between a work of art and something that is not a work of art when there is not an interesting, perceptive difference among them?”2 With that we would have to re-

"...ARTISTIC SENSIBILITY, WHICH GIVES CONTINUITY OR BREAKS WITH TRADITION,

IS LARGELY DETERMINED BY A CULTURAL ATMOSPHERE AND A SHARED PAST."

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RECOMMENDED

la Biennale di Venezia

56th International Art Exhibition

Curated by Okwui Enwezor

Venice, Italy Ӏ May - November 2015

All the World’s

Futures

Giardini, Venezia, 2015. Photography Alessandra Chemollo. Courtesy la Biennale di Venezia

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Giardini, Venezia, 2015. Photography Alessandra Chemollo. Courtesy la Biennale di Venezia

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Barthélémy Toguo, The New World Climax, 2000-14. Courtesy Stevenson, Cape Town and Johannesburg; Bandjoun Station Cameroun. Photography Mario Todeschini

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RECOMMENDED

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STANLEY KUBRICK

LISTEN TO THE EXHIBITION AUDIO GUIDE (SPANISH)

Museo de Arte Contemporáneo de MonterreyMonterrey, México • March to July 2015

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Exhibition views

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2001: A Space Odyssey, 1965-68. The astronaut Bowman (Keir Dullea) in the storage loft of the computer HAL.

© Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc.

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Emireth Herrera: Why do you say that illustration is your vengeance?

Federico Jordan: There is nothing more stimulating for creation than vengeance. Not in a pernicious or offensive way, I refer to the vengeance against image and sign, the battle against one’s power over creation. “Illustration is my vengeance” is a phrase that is part of other ones, that in my vision conform the essence of the illustrator: “Illustration is paratextual”, “Illustration is unity”, “Illus-tration is my silence”, “Illustration is bi-media,” etc.

EH: What happens when you are invited to collaborate with important media outlets such as The New Yorker and Forbes?

INTERVIEW

WITH Federico

Jordan

BY EMIRETH HERRERA

LEER EN

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Other times you have said that illustrations are a product of observing and “playing” with the materials, and that it is the image that takes control. What happens when you have the pressure of publishing in these world-renowned media outlets? Do you feel that images take even more control? Or on the contrary, do you want to control the details so the illustration is as prolix and perfect as possible?

FJ: Although illustration is functional, it stimulates the artistic game of production. To look through a small window of limitations heightens the challenge of a pragmatic and poetic solution. How to do it? That is the real vengeance. Illustration to me, especially in The New Yorker, has been a real honor. It is a publication with real content and prestige.

EH: The Japanese aesthetic term wabi sabi speaks of the impermanence and imperfection of beauty. You once told me that it is an essential element for your life and work, since you look to extract fleeting beauty from imperfection. How would you define this element, and is it still present in your production?

FJ: By nature, my experimentation work embraced the aesthetics of wabi sabi: the spontaneity of error, of defect, of pleasure; time blesses the objects with beautiful wounds. My grandfather Elpi-dio Gómez taught me to value it: the rust of metal, the erosion of wood, paper and stone. Without pretending so, many of my ob-jects have ancient injuries, even in the freshness of their execution.

EH: From watching you work one can tell you have a very singular notion of perfection. You are painting or drawing and you suddenly “correct” when something seems too “perfect,” does this mean you don’t necessarily look for perfection in your work? Tell us a bit more about your vision in this sense, and if you aren’t looking for something perfect, how do you decide: “it is ready, I’m sending it”?

FJ: I feel that these corrections you’ve seen while I work corres-pond to the battle every artist wages with his work: it is a constant communication. The worst thing for an artist may be an uncontro-llable imagination towards the infinite quality of the process. The decision of modifying and finishing is an important one.

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EH: Historically, illustration has been linked to social and political critique, sometimes even to denunciation itself. You have two particular illustrations, for example: “Je suis Charly” and “43 Missing from Ayotzinapa;” you even twitted the latter with the phrase: “I, Federico Jordan, want to know where the 43 are.” These images were much appreciated by those who follow your work. Would you say that your work has an important political or denounce weight (although not evidently, except for this two cases)? Since when seeing your illustrations, many of them distinguish themselves for having a fun essence, an apparently simple sense of humor that at the same time has a very strong symbolic charge.

FJ: My relaxed and jubilant spirit is transmitted with the image. Even in the saddest moments of my life, my images are radiant with energy. “Je suis Charly” was from an invitation of the French paper Le Monde. The cartoonists at Charlie Hedbo are my tribe, they are close to me and it is my duty to homage them. The 43 missing from Ayotzinapa symbolize my pain as a Mexican. I just fo-llowed the lead of a talented illustrator and my friend BEF. I don’t have the initiative in these types of projects.

EH: On social commitment: recently in countries like Spain, Colombia and México, alternative art or design schools/workshops have become trends. Technology and online courses have also opened doors that reconsider the subject of education. Do you believe that the educational institution in art is something that should be reassessed? What do you think about the academy in creative careers? I ask this because apart from being one of the most renowned Mexican illustrators, your job as an educator stands out in the different schools you have taught.

FJ: My class is free. I talk about my experience and interests. I en-joy talking with the new generations about our passion and curio-sity. The subject or course is a pretext. I think that the outstanding pupil will find his language and his teachers with the help of God over his talent, will and destiny.

EH: A distinction has always been made between art and design. Artists tend to be very jealous about categorizing their work

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Randall Dunn is an almost spiritual-like presence in the underground Seattle scene. Born in Michigan, the producer moved to Seattle in the early 90s, and found himself in the middle of a peaking music scene. Always looking for new sounds and musicians with the will to experiment, his musical journey has led him to collaborate with some of the most emblematic artists of the scene —Earth, Wolves In The Throne Room, Sunn O))), Marissa Nadler— deepening his formation as a producer and studio engineer. As a musician, his work with his band Master Musicians of Bukkake continues his avant-garde style with some eastern touches and wicked humor. Today he talks us about how he has traced himself a path among the alternative music landscape, gives us some hints about his more recent work, and shares his vision of the current state

of the music industry.

DV: You started out your career wanting to do music for films. What came first for you, music or films?

RD: I think those things came sort of hand in hand for me. I got

interested in music through film, so being a lover and appreciator of film I first got interested in soundtracks. Then of course, when you are young you are interested in whatever music is happening at the time. I was lucky enough to grew up through great bands like The Cure, a lot of really great early metal, a lot of really ama-

zing soundtracks.

DV: What soundtracks did you like when growing up?

RD: I got really into the Terminator 2 soundtrack, just the main theme, I was like “what is this”? So it got me interested in synthe-

sizers and just all kinds of music, and eventually I got into Twin Peaks, because that was on TV when I was young. I watched that series and got really into the music and what it could do as far as moodiness and bringing a different kind of psychological frame to a picture. So when I moved to Seattle I was going to pursue sound, composing for film, and filmmaking also. And I just got kind of si-delined by a really incredible scene I found in Seattle. That kind of turned me into a producer.

DV: What year did you arrive in Seattle?

RD: Think it was late ’93, or ‘94.

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DV: So the music scene there had already peaked.

RD: Yeah, it was sort if on its way down, and definitely people had a feeling of that, too. In some ways it had gotten more eclectic be-

cause whenever you have a boom of any kind of industry-related support for a movement in a city, musicians come from all over to try to participate. Oddly enough that’s not why I went to Seattle, but a lot of people did. So when I got there, there was all this ta-

lent and the industry was kind of done. Then people just started playing music they enjoyed, so other things were happening; there was a really incredible jazz scene, the experimental music scene was unbelievable at the time, it was very healthy and people were way more interactive.

DV: Around this time is when Earth comes into the picture.

RD: Yeah, maybe a little earlier, cause they were sort of parallel with Nirvana. Dylan (Carlson, Earth frontman and founder) stop-

ped playing music for a good portion of the 90s, you know, life just happens to people, so there was a long dead period of Earth. But

there was more people related to bands like Coil, this kind of elec-

tronic music, there were a lot of people doing processed acoustic instruments, improvised music, a lot of different things. I think that was something that really inspired me to stay in Seattle, cause I was learning so much about manipulating sound at that time, it was sort of an awakening.

DV: You mentioned The Cure, David Lynch, some of your early influences. What albums do you admire sonically, as a producer?

RD: So many. I really love Disintegration by The Cure, it’s an incre-

dible-sounding record. Of course I’m a big fan of a lot of the re-

cords of the 70s, and I’ve tried to bring some of that into my more modern productions. I really like the sound of the first few Plastic Ono Band records, and I really like, you know, the obvious ones: Zeppelin, some Beatles records, Harry Nilsson.

DV: I love that first Plastic Ono Band album. You heard Yoko’s Season of Glass, the one that got Lennon’s bloodied glasses on the cover? Really experimental stuff.

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Snobbism. Comunication in Arts No016 · nov dec 2014

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