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painted while listening to Racket Fest #2

4/13/2019

11 Comments

 
Picture
Back in the 80s, when Walls Of Genius was in it's so-called 'hey-day', our fellow avant-garde and experimental musicians were always amazed that Little Fyodor and I were both such enthusiasts for wilderness activity: hiking, backpacking, camping and all that.  It seemed as if underground music was perceived by its practitioners as an exclusively urban pursuit.  We did occasionally set up microphones outdoors, but that was only in the backyard, to capture the sounds of South Boulder Creek at the Eldorado Springs house.  So, yeah, most music of any kind, really, is an urban pursuit.  Once in a blue moon you hear of an orchestra recorded at the bottom of the Grand Canyon, but it doesn't happen very often.  The truth is that neither Fyodor nor I had moved to Colorado with the intention of making avant-garde music.  We came to Colorado for the mountains and the associated outdoor sport.  The music was something that developed over time.

Fast Forward to 2019 and the outdoor wild is still a passion for both of us.  We came west primarily for the mountains, but an added bonus, of which we were unaware at the time, was the southern Utah canyonlands.  This is a part of the country that has an almost fanatic fan-base and is currently embroiled in national monument controversy, as well as suffering the degrading onslaught of industrial tourism.  Back in the 80s, it was an empty quarter and we both quickly discovered this incredible landscape, falling in love, like so many others in the wake of Edward Abbey's "The Monkey Wrench Gang", with redrock canyons.  If the controversy and/or the landscape interests you, the Canyon Country Zephyr is the place to check in (www.canyoncountryzephyr.com).

This particular image comes from a photograph I took underneath Tower Arch, what was in the 1990s a quiet corner of Arches National Park.  I'm not sure there are any quiet corners of this park anymore.  Arches is now so popular and crowded that they're talking about instituting a permit system simply for access.  You'd have to make a reservation just to get in! Among other things, I hope this painting reflects why so many people might want that access.  It's a truly incredible landscape, but sharing an arch like this with a noisy crowd is very different than having it to yourself on a dry balmy desert afternoon.

You might ask why is this this image being posted to Electronic Cottage?  After all, it's not mail-art, nor is it a socially relevant collage.  Neither is it avant-garde, digital, weird, 'out-there' or experimental in any way.  It's a traditional, nearly impressionistic or fauvist landscape oil painting.  It's relevance to Electronic Cottage is that I painted it while listening to the Racket Fest #2 in its entirety, from beginning to end.  It must have been just the right inspiration, because this painting came fast and easy.  It was completed in less than 3 hours, needing no tweaks after the initial notan (sketch), underpainting and fine adjustments.  I enjoyed the Racket Fest, amazed by all the fascinating and psychedelic sounds made by this eclectic collection of musicians and I was pleased by the results of my effort as well.  You can see more paintings in this vein at my website: www.evancantor.com

Thanks for taking a look!
11 Comments
Little Fyodor
4/14/2019 03:03:44

That's a great painting!

I seem to recall you pointing out the urban corridor surrounding Boulder and Denver as a valuable asset of a move to Colorado, but absolutely the natural beauty was paramount. I also remember reading about Zion in a magazine in a dentist's office shortly after our arrival and being excited to tell you about it, as I certainly had no idea whatsoever of the wonders of southern Utah before moving here. While I still love the Colorado high country (not a weed joke!), Babushka has especially pushed me even more into appreciation of the "weird rocks" of Utah, as well as elsewhere (why we went to Viet Nam (Ha Long Bay) and Turkey (Cappadoccia)). Still wanna get us out to Snow Canyon one of these days....

Many demographers think current trends suggest that population growth will reverse itself at some point and that population will start decreasing. That's likely the only hope for humans ever being able to enjoy many of these beautiful places with some degree of intimacy again. Loss of interest may seem beneficial in this regard but might only lead to these places' abuse in other ways. We can always build more restaurants and boutiques, etc. to meet the needs of greater numbers of people, but places of natural beauty are a fixed commodity by definition, not subject to a technological fix, at least for a direct, "real" experience. Well, unless we travel to other worlds, but, well, I'll leave that there....

Reply
Chris Phinney
4/14/2019 11:59:12

I love the painting Evan!

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Leslie Singer
4/14/2019 16:20:04

Evan, thanks for your great thoughtful article. Your painting really transported me to a place of beautiful natural form, color and light that is so heightened and intense that it felt a little surreal. It is great to check out your other paintings and wildflower photos on site. You really have a way with painting trees. Sir, I’m in awe of your talent!

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Neal Retke
4/15/2019 07:30:05

As much as I enjoy the image & context you present, I'd like to mainly address a point you touch on - I find it interesting that people in my experience have always equated any sort of vibrancy in music to be rooted in urban areas. And yet, to my personal experience the most living, dynamic music scenes I've ever been involved in have been in smaller, more rural areas - Yet there has also been a stigma, a " Lesser Than " Mind set involved yearning for urban - Dunno, context ? Trappings ? - Art is everywhere, and the world is full of creative opportunities = Thanks for the article

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Adam J Naworal
4/15/2019 11:20:13

I love that Racket Fest #2 inspired this gorgeous painting! Great work!

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Evan Cantor
4/15/2019 12:48:43

Glad you folks enjoyed--I found it ironic that shortly after I wrote this bit about an urban focus on music-making, I watched Ditlev Buster's video in which he and a friend were playing acoustic guitars outdoors in a field... one of my unachieved ambitions for Walls of Genius back in the 80s was to play a demented version of "Rocky Mtn High" on Trail Ridge Road (Rocky Mtn Natl Park). I don't remember why we didn't--probably just didn't get around to it. But Neil's reflection is true and accurate--I think of all the bluegrass festivals and whatnot. But I suppose I was thinking mainly of the experimental community and my experience with it.

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Bret Hart
4/15/2019 12:46:27

Nice painting. The powerful strokes make for such a strong image.

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Dave Fuglewicz link
4/18/2019 20:42:26

Fantastic painting, it's vast and weighty starkness enveloped with the superb color tones and subtle shading breathes a spark of other worldlyness in a seemingly static scene. Superb.

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David Nadeau
4/29/2019 02:10:10

It is a very beautiful painting that renders the impressive character of the rock arch. I believe that nature expresses forms as extravagant as the experimental art does, so this painting and the commentary that accompany it seem to me quite in the frame of Electronic Cottage. The question that comes to mind is: Is the passion for outdoor activities a source of inspiration for the lyrics, songs titles, and the visual art that surround your projects?

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Jim Barker
4/29/2019 03:07:02

Great painting, very evocative of the wide open spaces of the USA. There is nothing like this in the UK, as we are small and very densely populated island with no deserts and no plains. The best the UK can manage is moors like Dartmoor and Exmoor, which are tiny in comparison to the expanses of places like Arizona or Utah. We do have a lot of National Parks but they are very well trodden, and even in poor conditions they are still well used. I suppose the UK is cozy and picturesque rather than grand and breathtaking, which is fine by me most of the time.

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Michael Ridge
5/2/2019 14:24:08

Beautiful painting, very fluid and
spacious! As Jim Barker rightly points out it is a huge contrast to the often dense crowds/limited open space of the UK.

Reply



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    Walls Of Genius

    formed in 1982, a musical performance-art comedy experimental noise ensemble, featuring everything from musique concrete, sound collage and extended rock improvisation to demented top-40 parodies, free jazz, industrial and audio experiments of all kinds, mostly fitting in no category whatsoever.

    Over the course of the next four years, Walls Of Genius took the underground by storm and rained on every conceivable parade, all with tongue firmly in cheek and cockeyed smiles.
    ​
    The brain-child of disgruntled musician and self-anointed "Head Moron" Evan Cantor, Walls Of Genius' other founding members ('genial genii') were the famous wild-man Little Fyodor and electric guitar wizard Ed Fowler. 

    Stalwarts of the early 80's cassette culture scene, Walls Of Genius was both loved and reviled in equal measure.

    By 1986 WoG had disbanded and was inactive until reunion sessions in 2014 re-ignited the flame. They happily soldier on, voices crying in the wilderness of madness that is this world in the 21st century.

    Evan Cantor email
    Little Fyodor email
    Walls Of Genius Bandcamp
    WoG Archival site

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ELECTRONIC COTTAGE is an international magazine where independent artists, musicians, writers and freethinkers share in-depth articles, essays, interviews, tech and gear reviews and tutorials,
and much more.

EC draws inspiration from the Cassette Culture Revolution of the 1980s, 90s and beyond; Mail Art, Small Press and Zines, Dada, Fluxus, Punk Rock, Hacking, Circuit Bending, Anarchy, and Noise.
EC values inclusion, democracy, experimentation, independence and freedom of thought and expression, open-minded exchange, and Community.

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