To Be A Good Woman

Cat Power
16 x 12 inches, oil on canvas paper, 2017

If any Cat Power song could be considered a hit song it would be To Be A Good Woman. The song comes from You Are Free, my favorite Cat Power album and one of my favorite albums regardless of whoever produced it.

A MUSHROOM VEDANTA

María Sabina
Oil on canvas paper, 16 x 12 inches, 2017

More ethnopoetics from Ubuweb: María Sabina is a Mexican Mazatec healer, a shaman, who became a notoriety because of a visit by American ethnomycologist Gordon Wasson who published his experiences in Life magazine in 1956. In the 1960s scores of Westerners flocked to the little village where Sabina was practicing a healing ritual that included the use of magic mushrooms. Bob Dylan, John Lennon, and Keith Richards are believed among those seeking audition. Wasson recorded Sabina during one of those nightlong ceremonies in 1956 in the Oaxaca province. Recordings appeared on the Folkways label the following year. The 8:06 minute Mushroom Chant that appears on Ubuweb was made during these sessions.

Ethnopoetics

Sainkho Namtchylak
16 x 12 inches, oil on canvas paper, 2017

The already heavily mined website Ubuweb.com yet yields another hitherto unexplored nook of most exciting sound recordings. Ethnopoetics is the name of the nook. I had found the music of Sainkho Namtchylak once before, about fifteen years ago when I was looking into Tuvan throat singing, but my ears apparently weren't ready yet. Ms. Namtchylak was born in Tuva but grew up in Moscow. She learned traditional Tuvan vocal styles together with Western avant-garde techniques of composition including the use of overtone singing.

Record Sleeve Selfies Part 3

All images 12 x 9 inches on paper.

Alvin Lucier

Alvin Lucier (signed by Alvin Lucier)
15 x 7.5 inches, stencil, 2017

Another great night at the Bob Rauschenberg Gallery as the New York duo String Noise performed works written for them by the composer Alvin Lucier. I was sitting next to a student who happens to be an accomplished violin player in her own right, who gave me interesting anecdotes about how the works were performed. The composer was present, and he's quite the cult hero. People in the audience brought with them records from the 1960s to have them signed by Mr. Lucier. I had never even seen a record by Alvin Lucier. Anyway, for my twice-yearly stencil print project that I do with my art appreciation class, I used the opportunity to portray Alvin Lucier. I got them done in the nick of time so I could have him sign the print. Obviously I gave him a copy too, and so did I to the String Noise duo. I think it worked out alright. Below is a sketch I made of Mr. Lucier when he answered questions from the audience after the performance.

Alvin Lucier, Pencil on paper, 8 x 7 inches, 2017