I just returned back from a weekend of deep listening in Boston. It was amazing to see my old Boston friends and meet some of my favorite musicians. I am thankful to Jon Whitney for putting this festival of strange and wonderful music.

The Brainwaves festival started on Friday sharply at 8pm with JG Thirlwell’s Manorexia project, a symphonic mix of strings and electronic sounds that sway from beautiful to haunting. Manorexia was the highlight of the Friday performances for me. JG Thirwell is a good friend of mine and I love the direction his music is going in these days. Each day Steven Stapleton of Nurse with Wound fame, played some songs in between acts. I was not sure why he did not perform in the festival but it was great to see him hanging around all weekend. I made it my mission to get to know him. I have been listening to the strange surreal music of Nurse with Wound for over 20 years. His is a kind and modest man. I learned that Stapleton is a shepherd living in the countryside of Ireland where he works on his music and art. When I asked him how many records he put out he said he had no idea. He may not know his own discography since 1979 but knows exactly how many sheep, chickens, and goats he has living on his farm.

The highlight for me was meeting Steven Stapleton/Nurse with Wound. Photo by Bryan

On Saturday I was most excited to see The Threshold HouseBoys Choir the new project of Peter Christopherson from Coil. His performance did not disappoint. I was super excited to meet him and shake his hand. Part of me wanted to go on and on about all how much I love his music, but I spared him what he already knows.

Threshold HouseBoys Choir

Little Annie AKA Annie Anxiety’s quirky cabaret performance of standards, was a nice break from all the experimental music. Little Annie has collaborated with Nurse with Wound, Marc Almond, Coil, and dozens of other people. She was like a gothic Edith Piaf on stage. Brainwaves ended on Sunday with a luscious dreamy performance by The Stars of the Lid. I saw them perform at a church in NYC a few months ago. Their Boston show was totally different but just as good.

Stars of the Lid

Lovely Video Projections at Brainwaves

Meat Beat Manifesto played a great set at Brainwaves but the whole time I was wondering of I was a decade too late on seeing them. Their sound might not have aged well but there were plenty of gorgeous video eye candy to keep me entertained.

Meat Beat Manifesto

I went to Boston for the Brainwaves three day music festival.  On Saturday I took a break from the dark theater of warm sounds and went on an excursion to the newly built Institute of Contemporary Art.  The ICA is a gorgeous temple of light, a perfect place to look at art.  The architecture truly rivals the art.  Plus they have the best museum elevator I ever rode on.  I was delighted to see that they had a very extensive show of Tara Donovan’s sculptures.  Donovan makes beautiful futuristic structures out of very common materials.  I was only able to take a few photos in the museum.

Be sure to look at the rest of her work on the Ace Gallery site.

ICA interior photo by Seze Devres

Close up of Tara Donovan’s sculpture by Seze Devres

Close up of Tara Donovan’s sculpture by Seze Devres

ICA Boston site

We found an R on the street, photo by Seze Devres

photo by Seze Devres

Zaha Hadid at Sonnabend Gallery, photo by Seze Devres

A painting Dame Darcy made of us knitting each other’s hair,

My dearest friend and fellow good witch Dame Darcy had her art opening today at Sloan Fine art.  Tonight, I arrived right on time at her opening and I waited (with her best friend) for her to arrive.  We looked at her amazing illustrations and talked about how much we love Darcy.  I have adored her work since high school and since then we have become close friends.  After 40 minutes I went home and with a fresh copy of Gasoline in my arms.  I can’t wait to cuddle with her drawings and her story tonight.  I am so proud of her for finally publishing her book and I hope that she will have a brighter and better future once she moves out west.

Darcy, I know you are leaving New York with a broken heart but my heart will always be with you….

Gasoline original illustrations
Nov. 19th - Dec. 20th 2008
Sloan Fine Art
Gasoline art exhibition of original
illustrations from graphic novel and Gasoline painting series by Dame Darcy
128 Rivington st.
press release

On November 6, I went to the Whitney Museum of American Art for the opening of the William Eggleston’s exhibition The Democratic Camera.  I consider William Eggleston to be one of the fathers of color photography. I used to stare at his images in photo books for hours at the library when I was Stephen Shore’s photography student art Bard College.  His strange images were a huge influence on me.  Eggleston made it ok to turn snapshots into works of art, and therefore he made me feel more confident about my own early images.  He is a master when it comes to color.  The richness in the way Eggleston printed his images was something very new at the time.

Photo by William Eggleston
In my opinion this is one of Eggleston’s best photographs.  It displays the sheer bliss of light (sunlight) and photography, my two favorite things.

I showed up alone at the opening but I ran into a few friends, which was an unexpected surprise. It is always a nice to bump into people from a another part of your life at a completely different kind of event.  I saw my friend Kirsten there who happens to be an old family friend of the curator of the exhibition Elisabeth Sussman. Kirsten immediately introduced me to Sussman and her brother Paul Sacks. We were all very excited for Sussman!  I have admired her curatorial work for years and it was a pleasure to meet her.

Elisabeth Sussman and her brother Paul Sacks

Kirsten Sonnenberg and Paul Sacks

With my mentor Charles Traub, the head of the SVA MFA Photography program.

Then as if it was not already an amazing night,  I had a chance to walk through the exhibition with Dan Bell?!!  It is always great to see how another artist that I admire reacts to iconic works of art.

Photo by William Eggleston
Dan Bell could relate to this photo because he tours all the time.
More images at www.egglestontrust.com

Cities in Dust by Siouxie and the Banshees
Water was running; children were running
You were running out of time
Under the mountain, a golden fountain
Were you praying at the Lares shrine?

But oh your city lies in dust, my friend

We found you hiding we found you lying
Choking on the dirt and sand
Your former glories and all the stories
Dragged and washed with eager hands

But oh your city lies in dust, my friend

Hot and burning in your nostrils
Pouring down your gaping mouth
Your molten bodies blanket of cinders
Caught in the throes …….

And your city lies in dust

Oh this makes me want to play the guitar.

Stripes!

Photos by Seze

Photos by Seze Devres

Model: Monkey the Dog
Photography & Design: Seze