Invader, Artist :: 120 Seconds
The ingenious French artist Invader, describes the reasons behind the "Top 10" albums, whose covers he recreates with Rubik's Cubes and also inspired his latest exhibit by the same name.
The ingenious French artist Invader, describes the reasons behind the "Top 10" albums, whose covers he recreates with Rubik's Cubes and also inspired his latest exhibit by the same name.
Invader, Artist :: 120 Seconds from friendswelove.com on Vimeo.
About Invader: Invader’s work illustrates the overwhelming effect technology has had on contemporary culture while also critiquing it, using the ancient and traditional technique of mosaics to simulate digital pixels. Referencing the 1978 Atari video game, the artist began placing mosaics featuring Space Invaders on the streets of Paris in the late 1990s. Joined by Pac Man ghosts and other popular 8-bit characters, the works soon became a familiar sight to encounter in any urban environment. Invader’s usage of tile to create street art, rather than paint or stencil, is not only a unique choice of medium—it also emphasizes his commentary of how digital information networks have affected and transformed our society. Sightings of the work have spread over the last ten years on a global scale as the artist continues invading public spaces across five continents. Currently, Invader’s work can be found on the streets of over forty cities, worldwide. - Via Jonathan LeVine Gallery
About Top 10 Exhibit at Jonathan LeVine Gallery:
Jonathan LeVine Gallery is pleased to present Top 10, a solo exhibition of new works by the Parisian street artist known as Invader. Returning to the gallery for his first solo show in New York, Top 10 marks a highly anticipated event for this internationally celebrated artist. Known for using mosaic tiles to re-create popular characters from vintage 8-bit video games (such as Space Invaders and Pac-Man) on the streets of cities around the world, the artist’s individual mosaics are carefully cataloged after placement in context to their surrounding environment. Yet, since the project has grown on a global-scale, each piece also carries considerable significance from a larger perspective—populating what is now a worldwide installation that stretches across the planet. Invader’s mosaics can be found on the streets of over 40 cities, on all five (inhabitable) continents. Like the game, his mission is literally an invasion of (public) space.
Top 10 introduces a new series of original two and three-dimensional works featuring the artist’s signature pixel-based aesthetic, created in mediums such as mosaic tile and rubik’s cubes, which clearly translate the concept of pixilation (the division of visual information in digital format). Invader is the first artist to bring pixels to life, both in the physical world and in the art world. Echoing the neo-Impressionist painting technique of pointillism, with a contemporary voice, his evolved methods bring the composite image concept into the digital age. The show title Top 10 references popular music, as the artist has selected what he believes are the top ten album covers of his generation as subjects for re-interpretation using his own innovative technique of Rubikcubism. The term Rubikcubism is used to describe an art movement of which Invader is believed to be the originator, using Rubik’s Cubes (a 3-D mechanical puzzle game popular in the 1980’s). This exhibition also includes large-scale mixed-media sculptures in bright primary colors and a video installation of projected time-lapse footage, which reveals the geometric complexity of the artist’s incredible process in creating pieces in this show. - Via Jonathan LeVine Gallery
K’Naan, MC + Musician :: 120 Seconds
Somali MC & musician Knaan shares his views on language as not only a tool for communication but also as a cultural carrier and its influence in the way we view ourselves and our surrounding environment.
Somali MC + musician Knaan shares his views on language as not only a tool for communication but also as a cultural carrier and its influence in the way we view ourselves and our surrounding environment.
K'naan, MC + Musician :: 120 Seconds from friendswelove.com on Vimeo.
About K'naan:
Born in Mogadishu, Somalia, just as the civil unrest that rocked the country was beginning, rapper K'NAAN spent the early years of his life trying to avoid death and listening to the hip-hop records sent to him from America by his father, who had left Somalia earlier. When K'NAAN (whose name means "traveler" in Somali) was 13, he, his mother, and his two siblings were able to leave their homeland and join relatives in Harlem, where they stayed briefly before moving to Rexdale, Ontario, where there was a large Somali community. As soon as his English started improving, he began rapping, and in tenth grade he dropped out of school and traveled around North America for two years, performing occasionally. Through his friendship with Sol Guy, part of promotion team Direct Current Media, K'NAAN was able to perform at the United Nations' 50th anniversary concert in 1999, held in Geneva, where he used his platform to publicly criticize the United Nations' handling of the Somali crisis in the 1990s. One of the audience members, Senegalese singer Youssou N'Dour, was so impressed by the young MC's performance and courage that he invited him to contribute to his 2001 album Building Bridges, a project through which K'NAAN was able to tour the world. In 2002, he met Jarvis Church, part of the Track and Field Productions team that helped propel Nelly Furtado to fame, a connection that eventually led to a record. The Dusty Foot Philosopher came out in Canada in 2005, and was followed with tour spots with Mos Def and Talib Kweli, as well as a performance at Live 8. In 2007 the live album On the Road appeared and then, two years later, the album Troubadour became K'NAAN's first for the major label A&M. ~ Marisa Brown, All Music Guide
For more info on K'Naan, please visit:
Gilles Peterson, Music Pioneer :: 120 Seconds
Gilles Peterson of Brownswood Recordings shares the extent of his obsession with Arsenal Football Club and some insight into why he's taking a break.
Gilles Peterson of Brownswood Recordings shares the extent of his obsession with Arsenal Football Club and some insight into why he's taking a break.
Gilles Peterson, Music Pioneer :: 120 Seconds from friendswelove.com on Vimeo.
Music lover, record collector, DJ, broadcaster… Perhaps most famous for his much loved genre-exploding radio shows on BBC Radio 1 (and 17 other stations around the world including Japan’s leading commercial station J-Wave), Gilles’ insatiable appetite for new music undoubtedly lies at the heart of his success. Worldwide is 10 years young and fresher than ever – a benchmark for broadcasters the world over; global demand for his DJ sets is at an all-time high; the mighty Worldwide Festival (held annually in France and Singapore) curated by GP just gets better and better; and as for his record label Brownswood Recordings? Well, it just goes from strength to strength.
His Brownswood label recently dropped Volume 4 of the acclaimed Bubblers series and a classy second album from pianist Elan Mehler – ‘The After Suite’. A new set from singer Jose James is imminent. The album entitled ‘BLACKMAGIC’ finds him breaking new ground, collaborating with Warp’s Flying Lotus and reworking Afro Warrior Benga’s ‘Emotions’.
Gilles is actively working on remixes for Brasilian super star Seu Jorge and Brooklyn-Lagos-Paris-London based Afro surrealist Keziah Jones. He is also enthused about a bunch of brand new tracks resulting from a collaboration between Elmore Judd and two Kenyan musicians – Owiney Sigoma. The final mix is to be done in Damon Albarn’s studio in early 2010.
However, it’s Havana Cultura, an ambitious project focusing on contemporary Cuba, sponsored by Havana Club, that has the DJ most fired up. Coinciding with the 50th Anniversary of the Revolution and the easing of embargoes on Cuba, Gilles made a second visit to Havana in July 2009. He worked at the Egrem studios in conjunction with young, virtuoso, pianist and arranger Roberto Fonseca and together they have succeeded in uniting a host of young artists including rap crews Ogguere, Free Hole Negro and Obsesión plus vocalists like Danay, Telmary and Kumar. Of the older generation, it’s only the mighty Mayra Caridad Valdés, sister of piano legend Chucho, who makes an appearance in the mix. The double album, released on Brownswood Recordings, unites the dynamic and fresh studio recordings with an accompanying CD of tracks collected from Cuba’s urban underground on this and a previous visit.
Jazz is Peterson’s religion. After delving into his spiritual jazz archive in Brownswood’s vinyl bunker he has co-curated the book ‘Freedom, Rhythm and Sound: Revolutionary Art Covers 1960–78′ with Soul Jazz supremo Stuart Baker. Also on the deep jazz front Gilles confirms that the Horo catalogue – a final outpost of indie jazz which has been left untouched to date – is about to see light of day in 2010. A “deep compilation for the headz” has been crafted and mastered and is destined to get a worldwide release.
This year’s Worldwide Festivals in Sète and Singapore have proved established events and the sublime Sète Festival just down the road from Montpellier on France’s gorgeous Mediterranean coast, now in its fourth year, reached tipping point, sold out and broke even. Next year Gilles is looking to expand to Sao Paulo. October saw him in Japan for the annual J Wave Celebration Of Live Music in the mix with Khromanium, Salsa Swingoza and Quasimode. A Tokyo Heavy Hitters DJ clash at the Liquid Room included DJ Kentaro, DJ Mitsu The Beats, the legendary Muro and Raphael Sebag.
A lightning strikes three session foray into New York at the end of ‘09 will include an exclusive Q Tip party at Santos, a very special session at the Museum Of Modern Art and a Monday night on the decks at Deep Space with Francois Kevorkian.
Basically, the man’s DJ schedule is as mental as ever and over the next year he plans to explore new audiences in Kazakhstan, India (Mumbai + Calcutta) and Bangladesh (Dhaka). Gilles will touch down in Australia to play WOMAD in Adelaide in March. Nearer to home his new residency will be in the back room of a new session at Corsica Studios. Never tired of engaging with the cutting edge sounds of a new generation, this session will be a collaboration with dubsteppin’ We Fear Silence Collective featuring an awe-inspiring array of dubstep’s leading lights.
For more info on Gilles:
http://www.gillespetersonworldwide.com