rock, pop, techno
sound particle #4
none more blacker 200 Gertrude Street, Melbourne 2 March - 24 March 2001
tougher than art First Floor, Melboume 14 March - 24 March 2001
The relationship between art and music is one of those subjects that has been a perennial favorite with both curators and artists. The theme is endlessly recyclable, which accounts for its regular appearance on curatorial agendas. Capturing the essence of music within art however, is a bit like trying to bottle smoke-it tends to be elusive.
Art>Music: Rock, Pop, Techno, None More Blacker and (to a lesser degree) Tougher Than Art are recent exhibitions by artists interested in the cultural appeal and attitude surrounding the making and recording of music. The exhibitions operate on a number of levels, including popular mass produced music, independent sounds and the avant-garde limited edition of experimental recording. Like LA artist Susie Parker's installation Searching Kenneth Reaf, 1998, which documented her obsession with Keanu Reeves and his Band Dogstar, Art>Music, None More Blacker and Tougher Than Art present, with varying degrees of success, work created from the perspective of the fan. The increasingly blurred demarcations between star and fan has been a recent subject of exploration within pop music, television and film, from Rap artist Eminem's video 'Stan' {which features the singer as a delusional and ultimately suicidal fan of himseiD through to fan generated constructs like 'Popstars' and the nostalgic, sentimental views of fandom as portrayed in films like Detroit Rock City and Almost Famous.
Gauging from its title, the show Art> Music: Rock, Pop, Techno, at the Museum of Contemporary Art, seems to be making a populist appeal to the sensibility of the ordinary music fan, an