con(temp(t)orary) art

it's been an unusually indulgent week in terms of contemporary art!

firstly, an experimental music gig so experimental that a pleb like me could not find the venue! what is it with the 'experimental' music scene and the need to share the aural love in warehouse-type locations that only those who are cool enough naturally or already know where they are going? is it to prop up egos of those who need to feel 'cool', 'in the know', and accepted as part of a (perceived) subculture? rampantly elitist and exclusive or just plain eye-rolling pathetic? there wasn't signage anywhere, not even on the actual venue; just the street number, thankfully made of reflective metal. if i hadn't seen a picture of the place on google street map (thank you to the google nerd who is obviously cooler than me), i really would have walked straight onto the tracks of central station. yes, i feel very welcome as a newcomer onto this friendly experimental music scene; in fact, i'm feeling the urge to be a newgoer.

in the olden days, when experimental musicians ran gigs in warehouses because that's all they could afford, fine. but why does this trend of industrial reverberant spaces continue? don't tell me that inner city warehouses are cheap: given the current real estate crisis, that's just bollocks. and why is patron comfort systematically ignored? a nice bar there might be, but two hours sitting on a (ikea-esque) stool does not do my bum nor back any favours. when patrons go to such gigs they make beelines for the scarce couches. so given that (self-declared cool) music people obviously prefer comfort over stool-uncool, why don't venues offer proper seating? not to mention proper insulation, which not only helps to control warehouse reverb (they weren't designed with acoustics in mind, fools) but keeps people toasty warm and not shivering as the night wears on. for that night's gig, i'm not even going to start on the actual 'musical' content. let's just say it involved the playing of a clarinet along with birdsong, too much of the echo plugin, and an occasionally tragic electronic backbeat (that made me shiver from the sheer aural repulsion more than the cold). a good clarinetist perhaps, but he should most certainly stay away from microphones and laptops. but to the relief of my ears, some interestingly unusual piano playing and awesome beat tones from a vibraphone kept me from combating lower back pain by walking out.

i'm not going to stop at contemporary music. a famous so-called contemporary art festival currently on show in the big smoke is ridiculously visual arts dominated. of the works that contain audio, the sound is 'composed' by visual artists. and of the three venues visited, about five of the works i'm still thinking about, the rest i left my passing thoughts right there with the so-called art.

i've not seen so much (highly praised) wank in such a short period of time. you know you're in trouble if the venues themselves are significantly more interesting than the art housed within! the industrial wasteland of one venue (girt by sea) proved to be much more fascinating in terms of its compositional randomness, natural degradation, and historical comment. again, why are industrial spaces so attractive to contemporary artists? i can see the point if you take the space into account as part of the work, but otherwise, is it just (unjustified) artistic cool to not be in a shiny sterile gallery but rather, sharing air with tetanus-inviting rusty motors under a tin roof that drips louder than the video sound? one particular building freaked me out: there were funky vibes there from people long gone, enhanced by the rank smell from the broken sewerage system and discarded clothes strewn around one room, eerily speaking on behalf of its former residents. the curators specifically stated that they left the building as they found it, and for what reason other than artistic cool and to make people physically uncomfortable? to make sure that we take the bird lice and furry sewerage home with us (the smell was worse than a public toilet in regional parts of china), or to make oh&s nerds run screaming? perhaps all of the above.

off the island and back onto land, the first installation at a relatively respectable museum simply had items that could be used for bomb making placed onto a table. that's it. any ten year old with internet access and within walking distance to bunnings could have done the same, if not better. another work was simply a postcard framed on both sides, with a seemingly philosophically chosen picture and sentimental words scribbled on the back. and, a framed cheque (in fact, two separate artists submitted this)? i don't know how such uncreative, unimaginative, and in short, boring art can end up in such prestigious places and be highly commended; looked more like last minute brain explosions to me. not so long ago a documentary questioned whether a four year old could produce 'better' abstract art than famous practioners; perhaps the same exploration should be undertaken with contemporary (visual) art?!

granted, i was intrigued by the speakers embedded in bike tyres, moving pictures reflected onto a cylindrical mirror, bubble-oozing installation, fan-forced light propulsion mobile, underground tunnel soundscape (but i'm biased: i love the reverb and acoustics from tunnels and under bridges), and video work with two screens facing each other: one of an oil stock trading floor, the other of oil workers in the niger delta area. what i really don't understand is some artists' fascination with industrial spaces and how contemporary art in any medium is defined and applauded: the ideas might (sometimes) be there but with such poor implementations, where is the skill?! it's not so apparent to me these days. has contemporary art become an excuse??

but, not all contemporary art is rant-worthy: some well understood and played ligeti went down very well indeed on friday night...