Composer/writer Clive Bell contributed an interesting piece in The Wire recently that explores the biwa (medieval Japanese lute) and its role in avant-garde pieces by Toru Takemitsu and in the epic (and tragic!) songs of the Heike. I first heard the biwa in High School, when a teacher gave me Kabuki and Other Traditional Music by the Ensemble Nipponia (Nonesuch 1980). I then became fascinated by Takemitsu's scores for classic films like Kwaidan and Seppuku. There is an urgency and depth in biwa music that seems to echo that human experience of grief, when the throat closes up in gaps of silence and parcels out our urgent sounds in passionate spurts. More below.
Bell's article touches on an interesting note that the biwa performer, as a conduit for the epic, does not only address the living audience, but the dead as well. He quotes a Dubin student of biwa, Thomas Charles Marshall, who explains the music's haunting function: "The tradition of the lament in Japan, as I’ve come to
perceive it, is a kind of requiem to appease spirits. So the Heike biwa is all
about telling the story to quieten spirits that had died in a very difficult
manner. Biwa hoshi [players], many of them blind, were described as living on
the border line between life and death. Traditionally people who couldn’t see
were regarded as dwelling between the land of the living and the land of the
dead. So there’s this idea of the biwa being able to communicate with both
worlds.” Read more at The Wire here. Below: The first biwa piece I heard as a young student, The Death of Atsumori, performed masterfully by Ayako Handa. Learn more: Guide to Toru Takemitsu at The Guardian, Clive Bell, Japan Society UK, Japan Society US, Christopher Yohmei Blasdel (shakuhachi), Music in Japan (Bonnie Wade), Composing Japanese Musical Modernity (Bonnie Wade), Japanese Music and Musical Instruments (William Malm).
Laurie Anderson's The Beginning of Memory, from the album Homeland (2010). I recently saw her perform the piece in an intimate theater designed like the interior of a Japanese temple. She covered the stage with small candles and the low-light against wood really brought me back to the years I lived in northern Japan. Anderson's story held such a mythological quality that, combined with the atmosphere of the room, created a mesmerizing, almost ecstatic experience. It felt like I was listening to a creation tale told around a primal campfire. Homeland was produced by Anderson, Lou Reed, and Roma Baran, and featured contributions by Lou Reed, Omar Hakim, John Zorn, Eyvind Kang, and others. Enjoy!
The impact of The Bomb on popular culture in the post-war era was a strange cocktail of fear and fascination. The 1982 documentary film The Atomic Cafe illustrated a trend in the US to transform this weapon of mass destruction into a cartoony, Sci-Fi mascot. Diners enjoyed Atomic Burgers and shakes, and the space-age fashion designers in the 1960s popularized new styles born from a fear of radiation. The influence of Cardin, Rabanne, and Courreges is even felt today in Retro Futurism. But while we enjoy the creative reactions to the Atomic Age and Cold War, it's important to keep a weary eye on the dark realities behind the artifice.
Japanese artist Isao Hashimoto created a conceptual piece in 2003 that presents a running timeline of every nuclear bomb explosion on earth between 1945 and 1998. Hashimoto's "1945-1998" (also called "2053" based on the number of bombs used/tested) takes the form of a digital world map, where each detonation is represented by colors and sounds arranged by country. The piece begins slowly as the timeline ticks forward, but soon the bleeps build to a cohesive pattern of sound reminiscent of early Kraftwerk or Yellow Magic Orchestra (YMO). To transform such data into an art experience is interesting- and even entertaining- but Hashimoto also succeeded in sending an ominous message. We might look back on the Atomic Cafe culture as a quaint period in our naive evolution since WWII, but viewers shouldn't be fooled by a false sense of security. Maybe Ian Fleming's warning of a "little man with a heavy suitcase" has thankfully not come true (ref: Moonraker/1955), but the radiation from our own nuclear testing (and power plants) is all too real. Fukushima may seem like a world away to many readers, but the crisis in Japan continues to unfold with dire details. More about Hashimoto at ctbto and Wired. Below: "1945-1998" by Isao Hashimoto.
The music group DEVO satirized many elements of post-war culture and values in the 1980s. Readers might recall the leak of president Ronald Reagan's 1984 ill-conceived joke on NPR: "We begin bombing in five minutes." Cold War anxiety was alive and well! DEVO's iconic radiation outfit is available on their with the ad: "Protect yourself from dangerous human elements and stay cool during meltdowns in this official DEVO yellow suit." If you're asking why this parody is still relevant, these T-shirts (top picture) were available from the official Museum of Nuclear Science recently. See also the Atomic Testing Museum.
Below: A recent Kraftwerk performance of "Radioactivity". The song was originally released on their 1975 album Radio-Activitivity (Radio-Aktivität). They have re-recorded it a number of times over the years and their Japan performances since the 2011 earthquake have included Fukushima in the list of nuclear disasters. Founding member Ralf Hütter has been leading a new line-up of Kraftwerk on a number of world tours to present 3D concerts at major museums like MOMA and the Tate.
Welcome to Art Pioneers! As a writer/artist, I'm often inspired by the work of innovators like Laurie Anderson, David Bowie, David Byrne, Starn Twins, and many other creators from the visual and performing arts. Art Pioneers will spotlight old and new projects each day, and will feature original art and interviews as I can fit them into my schedule. Below: I created these DEVO-inspired cards for Thanksgiving, which feature vintage card designs and the band's famous energy domes. DEVO has always used their unique cartoony aesthetics to expose the absurdities, cruelty and hypocrisy in society. Having an outsider view myself to many holiday traditions at this point, as well as being a pescetarian, I couldn't help twist this traditional iconography. Special thanks to the more than 100 DEVO pals and fans of Mark Mothersbaugh's artwork on Facebook for embracing and sharing these images. Enjoy and come back soon!
