vincent comparetto.

I have loaded several images and media samples from two pieces that I intend to submit to the Moveon.org based DNC art show entitled Manifest Hope. Both pieces are political in nature and deal with aspects of history as well as the steps we need to take right now to prevent us from revisiting atrocities of the past.



When you peer through the eye piece you see and hear this video, so it is visualized in a very intimate setting. The intent here is to enforce the Hiroshima victim's recollection in a deeply personal manner.







This piece entitled "Prospects of Democracy" incorporates sound bites from a political speech of Noam Chomsky about America's ideal concepts of democracy versus it's current misappropriation. It also a incorporates excerpts from Charlie Chaplin's closing speech in the film "The Great Dictator" which similarly discusses the pitfalls of greed combined with politics.

Here is the audio collage I edited that plays back within the piece when you flip the switch.



http://www.manifesthope.com/

This will be the first of an ongoing exploration into abstracted portraits using my recently built distortion cameras. I used a variety of cameras all varying in levels of intended abstraction all though my attempts at both controlling the level of abstraction or predicting the outcomes was pretty futile. I was surprised at how abstracted the images were.




A matter of fact I think I have to go back to the drawing board a little bit because both my depth of focus and level of deterioration was way beyond what I intended. I fluctuated my lighting situation greatly only to learn that it didn't matter, which in terms of traditional photography makes no sense. Nothing I do seems to make these photos more literal, it's almost as if the cameras or the aspect of chance operation is the artist in charge I'm just a long for the ride pushing the buttons. it's funny because some of these photos are very long exposures and others aren't and that didn't effect the color or the bluriness. Most of the colors come out of chemical reactions rather than colors that were present. Frieda was photographed on a white back drop for all of these.

So what do you guys think? I think I'm on to something but I'm not quite there yet. It's weird when the intent doesn't materialize and something else does. It's exciting. I guess that is what I have to respect about this process. I am setting obstacles in place to obstruct my vision. Even though I am beginning with a subject and a tool typically used in documenting life accurately things can easily be distorted and steered into complete abstraction.

So many major events undocumented on my blog, I have been seriously slacking! I apologize! Well this weekend was the Denver Post Underground Music Fest where one gets to see two days of purely Denver underground music. All the bands in this festival are pretty much unsigned which in the case of denver makes up 99 percent of all the bands. Pretty much every band except Flobots, Devotchka, and the Fray. And within all these bands there are musicians that float about playing in every other band. It kind of reminds me of the NY Bepop jazz movement in the 50s. Anyway it was really fun, I saw some great music. Friday night I witnessed Dust on the Breakers, Dbiddle, Bad Weather California, Bad Luck City, and Ian Cooke kill it.


On Saturday I watched Frieda sit in on Everything Absent and Distorted set which us a bunch of covers and a variety of friends lending their musical talents. It was great seeing Frieda on stage again even with these big hair dudes.





Then my friend Julie's band Bela Karoli played and they sounded great. I like it when they have these music fests because they have to turn a variety of places into music venues and in the case of this great folk set performed by Rachel Pollard, Gregory Allen Issacov, and Julie Davis, it was a Rug Warehouse. It was lit really great and had such a pleasant ambiance.









Actually Denver's music scene is a pretty awesome thing, I mean here we have a city that has probably received more recognition for it's brothels than it's music historically speaking but the music scene here thrives despite what little recognition it receives. It beyond thrives it's like an army covering every genre while inventing many of it's own tactics. Due to a lack of exposure and a lack of influence from the popular shores of America it evolves much like the Galapagos island spawning diversity and uniqueness that rivals anything I have ever heard. Mat and Kim we are not. We aren't sloppy untrained punk kids rehashing old ideas. We have completely developed our own musical sensibilities based on sharing ideas with our friends and in many cases some of the most interesting things in Denver come out our incorporation of classical instrumentation and mutli cultural interpretations of folk music.











Even that definition is far too narrow and one sided because we also have bands like Mr. Pacman which is more derivative of Voltron than Appalachian Folk. It seems they dug a hole from Japan and came out in Denver. The Highlight for me was seeing them play at Rule mainly because of the contrast of Rule Gallery and Mr. Pacman collaborating. Rule Gallery is a very high end "high art" establishment that doesn't cater to the first friday crowd at all, it caters to art collectors and established artists so rarely does my low brow crowd even stand outside the joint.












Seeing a sweaty Avery naked beyond the ever shrinking speedo rolling around on that sacred floor just feet from a fifteen thousand dollar Dale Chisman painting screaming "This is gonna be the best summer ever". I only wish Robin Rule was there to witness the collision of such distant aesthetics. All and all it was a great weekend of musical appreciation. Thank you Denver.

Frieda and I bounced to the Orient Land Trust Valley View Hot Springs in one day and back and it was awesome! More pics coming but here is the journey sped up a little bit.



We got sun burnt.

Frieda and I collaborated on a film for a video exhibition on display right now at the Belmar Labs. Frieda scored it with a bunch of found sounds. Check it out if you get a chance. Here's what the Lab has to say about the show.



RUCKUS, REPEAT, RUCKUS is The Lab's latest Poop Deck Project, a video art exhibition that explores the spectacular and dynamic dimensions of the digital art medium. Artists in this exhibition find artistic forms that engage with the widespread and fast-paced display of media in mass culture. The metaphor of noise is meant to suggest an urban environment, a background feature that nevertheless persists in making its presence felt - an aesthetic experience that is neither contemplative nor decorative, but continually draws attention to itself.

Frieda with a very beautiful Amanda Marie painting in the background. Frieda and Ian Cooke played and it was awesome they both sounded amazing. Thanks so much guys. I plan to post video of there performances shortly.







Holle and Owen reppin'







Dudes kickin' it, Ethan my master silicon blaster




Sid Pink their tan man servant and Kat in attendance. Hey Sid thanks for spending thousands of dollars on art on the show before my show, that was awesome, call me if you need help hanging.



Scott lefavor's skills get scoped. these two pieces were the stars of the show for me.



A sax player and two of my favorite bosses











The install was fun the show looked great and the opening night was a several hundred person party in the true tradition of Andenken. Thanks to all you suckas who bought art and to all you playas that said you were thinkin' about it just to impress the ladies.



I was going to make this into a QTVR but then I remembered I have no idea how to do that.

Let the records show Andenken still throws the craziest party/art exhibitions in Denver. Thanks to everyone for helpin out and to Jeremy for the awesome install and to Amanda Marie and Scott Lefavor for seriously bringin' it and settin' the bar mighty high, and to Tom for curating and having my art in the first pace. Thanks a bunch.

Please visit www.beautyandthestreet.org for more pieces of the show and availability of the art.

Here's a sneak peak at some of my work, my studio, and a glimpse at the process involved in preparation for my show next Friday June 6th at Andenken.

Robert Rauschenberg

October 22, 1925 May 12, 2008

Inspiration comes in waves but nothing was more profound in my life to when I saw Robert's work for the first time. It was like being hit by a truck, it changed my life, completely altering my concepts of art, the potential of an artist, and how an artist should interact with the world. He is highest rung on the latter I climb. I remember when my mom and I went to see his retrospective at the Gugenheim, just starting from the top and spiraling down through his immense world. The vastness of his legacy was mind boggling. The sheer lattitude and range was unlike any artist. We as artists have to remember how important innovation is and how important it is to occasionally abandon a direction just because we know where that direction goes. Robert taught us that consistency in art can quickly lead to stagnation. He always found a smaller riskier branch and climbed out onto it without fear. I remember once standing in a gallery called Rule in Denver it was loud and crowded, filled with snooty people talking to each other many of which could care less about the art on the wall. I had been standing perfectly still for quite sometime faced with a photo of Robert Rauschenberg photographed by Chuck Close. I felt closer to Robert in a way at that moment, I wanted to talk to him, Mostly I just wanted to thank him, and I wanted to take the photo home and use it much like a shrine. It was shot recently and like many of Chucks photos it seemed more in focus that anything optically possible. As if I could see the ideas churning behind Robert's honest eyes. My friend Evan was standing next to me, "you like him"? "Who Robert, yeah, he's pretty much my hero."






Robert I will miss you thanks for the education. The torch you handed me to carry is kind of big do you have anything smaller?