Students, city residents, musicians and even a couple of dogs shuffled across the concrete floor of Johnson City’s Spool MFG gallery. This mixed bag of people were there for a last look at the art that has been on display for the past month.
This motley crew of people (and dogs) spent their Saturday night sipping wine and patiently waiting for the live performances that would close out the reception for the exhibition titled ‘Set in Concrete.’
The show, which had been open for public viewing since Sept. 1, consisted of visual art from 21 New York City inhabitants, all involved in the music field. On display was a wide variety of paintings, photography, drawings and video installations.
The idea of the show was to relocate the energy and spirit of New York City to the secluded, upstate Johnson City area.
Aurelio Valle, a member of the indie rock band Calla (curator of the show and participant), wanted to get the artists out of their element.
Julian Duff, the producer of the show, said art came from all around the music community. The artists varied from musicians to the professionals responsible for creating album art and video directing.
‘There is a broad music community in New York,’ Duff said. ‘We didn’t want to limit [the show] to just musicians.’
‘People don’t know that they are actually artists,’ Valle said, referring to those artists who create album art for bands. ‘They are not exposed in that context. This is a platform for them to show their work.’
The room was dimmed and there was only one spotlight on Valle, creating an immense shadow behind him on the wall. In front of him 50 or so onlookers stood or sat on the concrete floor. He played his guitar for a set that was about 20 minutes long. There were no words, just the loud, sometimes piercing sounds of his guitar reverberating off the walls of the room.
Pedro Mena, another curator of the exhibition, said Valle’s performance was somewhat like listening to music from the soundtrack of a film.
‘It’s not something you will ever hear again,’ Valle said about his performance that night. ‘I didn’t rehearse. I didn’t want to, too much. The idea of it being a performance on whim is a lot more exciting.’
Both he and Mena described the performance as ‘ambient and experimental.’
Jason Friedman, who had work displayed in the show, followed Valle’s performance. His solo guitar performance was a little more upbeat and lasted about 15 minutes. Friedman played music from his band, The Boggs.
Taryn Alper, a senior English major and head public relations director for the campus radio station, WHRW 90.5 FM, was very impressed with both the performances and the art on display.
‘It’s a wonderful idea to bring New York City art to Johnson City,’ Alper said. ‘It’s something much needed in our area. I love experimental music. It promotes art and music simultaneously.’
Despite Alper’s enthusiastic response, many people reacted quite differently. Nicole Sackler, a junior creative writing major, found some of the pieces interesting, but had mixed feelings regarding others.
‘Some of it looked juvenile. It’s not appealing to my taste,’ Sackler said.
This was Valle and Mena’s first exhibition and they both agreed that they hope to curate many more.