Smoke from the big head tastes like marshmallows

Last night Jeff and I went to an art show in a cannery. The place has lain empty since 1999, and is due to be demolished in the next few days. Last night, however, it was turned over to a group of University of California art students to do with as they wished. They put on a show called Uncanny.

Here is a small selection of the pieces I caught on camera. These photos were taken using available light and no tripod, hence the weird colour casts and blurry focus. I think their imperfections/qualities are evocative of the mood of the event.

Walking up to the empty warehouse I could hear music thumping. It was like going to an early 90’s rave, which was probably purely coincidental – it’s unlikely these students know much about early nineties British counterculture.

This was part of a small cluster of dodecahedrons. You could clamber inside and using the sticks provided, hit chimes tied to the frame to make utterly random music. Different sized frames suited different sized people, and each had chimes in a different octave, or so it seemed.

A sinister-looking painting. The painters were poorly served by this venue. Their work was strung between two pillars and the only light came from the huge work lights thirty feet above.

A close-up of a ceramic tile. Looks like Blackpool rock to me.

This was the scene for some kind of interactive performance. To the right of the sofa was a large collection of vegetable matter and broken crates. A group of oddly-dressed students were alternately grubbing through the vegetables and shouting at the audience through megaphones in the manner of evangelical preachers. I didn’t stick around long enought to fathom it out.

This piece is really fun club decor. A DJ was spinning platters while a VJ created a kind of visual feedback loop. A projector controlled by a computer threw abstract patterns onto a screen. People danced in front of the screen and a camera recorded their silhouettes. This information was then laid over the abstract patterns and projected onto the screen.

I wonder if the creators of this piece know about Dan Graham’s 1974 piece Present Continuous Past(s)?

Finally, here’s a big head. It blew smoke every now and then. The smoke tasted and smelled like marshmallows.

The experience was something like the art trail at the Big Chill – but not as accomplished. Still, any effort like this is stimulating. It’s given me a couple of ideas.