Chris Burden is one of my favorite performance artists.  A couple of years back I was at the Pompidou in Paris which was featuring LA art from 1970-1990.  It was amazing.  In the early 1970′s, Los Angeles was delivering decade defining artists in film, performance art, sculpture, multi-media installations, feminist rhetoric…ect. Chris Burden was one of the most controversial artists in Los Angeles at the time.

He was made famous by his piece entitled Shoot. He had one of his assistants shoot him in the shoulder as a performance art piece.  After the performance he was brought to a mental hospital for evaluation.  My favorite performance  by Burden is Doom. Burden laid motionless in a museum gallery under a slanted sheet of glass, with a clock running nearby.  He planned on laying there until someone interfered with the piece.  After 40 some hours a museum guard put a pitcher of water within arms reach of Burden.  Chris then smashed the glass and the clock with a hammer.

I believe that his confrontational performance art was a heavy influence on the Los Angeles Punk and Hardcore scene.  He also challenged the heirarchy of Gallery, Artist, and lay person.  Tearing down those boundaries and making people reconsider the “God-like” worship of Artists and their institutions.  These paradigms of stage, artist, layperson..ect were also being challenged by the punk/hard core bands of Los Angeles in the early 1970′s and 80′s.

Also, David Bowie mentions Burden in one of my favorite songs Joe The Lion off of Heroe’s.

These are live pics of the 0th show at 21 Grand on May 12th from Oakland. The show turned out next level. We will be doing a series of these. I will keep you updated via my mailing list (sign up) and on my website.

I made this digital score for this film back in 2000.  I used REAKTOR, Logic Platinum, and made it on one of those clam ibook’s, the tangerine one.

Watch Montag’s Line in Entertainment |  View More Free Videos Online at Veoh.com

I am doing research on MAX MSP light sequencing for the MNDR live show and also for the 0th residency at 21 Grand January 2010. My friend from my other band 0th sent this DIY lazer demo to me. I love it.

Laser Mod – Click here for more home videos

John Wiese and Sissy Spacek have a pretty amazing collection of records and a book of drawings out now on No fun, Misanthropic Agenda, Drone Disco, Second Layer and Aufabwegen .  You can order them direct from his website. They are all amazing.  The release on Second Layer is a collaboration with Evan Parker.  The Aufabwegen is a collaboration with  KK Null from Japan who was in a band called Zeni Geva. The Drone Disco release is a collaboration with C. Spencer Yeh.

I saw Janine, PlanningToRock owner of Rostron Records play back in 2005 or 2006 with Kevin Blechdom at club Eggs in SF. Blew my brains! She is by far one of the most powerful performers and video artists I have seen in a long time. Telepathe recently did a remix for her. It is up on PTR myspace.
Patiently waiting for second release Black Thumber. Here is a teaser video.

“Black Thumber” promo video from planningtorock on Vimeo.

When I was in L.A. for a couple of months this winter I went to this art opening at Hope Gallery.  It is run by Cali De Witt who runs Teenage Tear Drops record label which puts out an array of music including No Age and Soiled Mattress and The Springs, etc.

He is also part of RVCA which puts out a free art magazine called ANP Quartely.

Just check this shit out if you are in L.A.

Teenage Teardrops

Jackie has played in 0th for over a year right now and co-wrote 0th “Tammy” out on Resipiscent.  I have been going to her art shows for 3 or 4 years now.  Always outragous.  Most of the work I have seen of hers combines ideas of space, sound, lights, and quilting.  Her endeavours are always on a grand scale and absolutely yield nothing but mind ooze.

Switch’s remix of Nattura original track featuring Brian Chippendale of Lightningbolt is truly outrageous.  Check it out on stereogum.com

I was researching Max MSP patches for sequencing lights and stumbled upon Ali Momeni.  He is a kinetic Sculputer Artist/Composer who teaches of the UofM in Minneapolis.  I reached out to him for some help and then randomly saw him at Lucky Dragons show at Lobot Gallery in Oakland, Ca.  I met him at a bbq in Berkeley…how strange. This is one of my favorite works of his entitled Animal Warmth.

Animal Warmth