travis egedy
2008
top ten best shit of the year list....no order.
1. "Unmonumental" at the New Museum, NYC, New York. A mindblowing array of contemporary art works investigating the collapse of icons and deteriorating symbolism. Critics hated it. I found it to be quite possibly the most relevant and cutting edge art show possible right now. The rise of a new Avant Garde? SICK.
Rachel Harrison "Huffy Howler" from "Unmonumental"
2. Sewn Leather performance at M.I.C.A in Baltimore. October. Grime punk? Minimal filth wave? The next school? Whatever you choose to call Sewn Leather's stripped down lo-fi dark synth music is irrelevant, because this guy is pure next level. I mean shit, he has the word "Hyphy" tattooed on his hand.
3. Grime getting its groove back. After a few years of seeming like a lost puppy with no direction, 2008 saw Grime get back to how it should be, GRIMEY. With extremely solid releases by Dot Rotten, Trim, JME, Wiley (duh), and 17 year old Chipmunk winning the prestigious MOBO award for best new artist, things are hot right now (again) in East London.
Trim.
4. RedLine Studios opening its doors in Denver. 13 subsidized artist studios along with an open space the size of a small museum, with openings already booked until 2010 curated by some of the worlds top curators? Can you say Denver Art Community? Now you can.
5. The Large Hadron Collider. Who knew that a particle accelerator that will provide answers on the origins of the universe and new information on the existence of alternate dimensions could look so sexy? DAMN.
6. Rhinoceropolis and our friends on Brighton Blvd. In its third fucking year, witnessing incredible shows by the likes of HEALTH, Indian Jewlery, Future Islands, SSION, John Wiese, High Places, along with the Draw Rings II and Pain Things art openings and parties. This humble warehouse and the community it has fostered continues to make me and people from all over the country feel warm and fuzzy inside. Come over and play!
7. BASS. talk about an MVP for the year! 2008 saw bass morph, bend and be appropriated by so many different genres and sounds (and still manage to create genres of its own). Between the rise of the brilliantly messed up use of bass by Wonky producers like Rustie, Zomby and Hudson Mohawke, by new Dubstep scratching the outer regions of what was thought possible with club music, and seemingly every producer and remix artist using its sub harmonic vibrations and now famous WOMP WOMP WOMP, Bass had one hell of a year. 2009 will get even weirder. Watch.
8. Terrence Koh and the return of the Art World bad boy. What a year for this Koh, everyone wants to fuck this guy. The self proclaimed "Naomi Campbell of the art world," dude dipped his shit in gold and sold it for hundreds of thousands of dollars. Seemingly unimpressed by the aesthetic banality and the spectacle that is Art BASIL in Florida, Koh chose to state on his website eloquently, "Miami Sucks like a cock in the ass that has been turned inside out." And his work just keeps getting better. MMMMMM Terence!
9. Performing as Pictureplane at The Church Of Crystal Light in Richmond, Virginia with BDRMPPL, Pashly, SHAMS, Narwalz, and Cartune Exprez. i think there are some Youtube videos of that night somewhere. Seriously ridiculous.
10. Eating Mushrooms on the side of a mountain, interacting with U.F.O's and bizarre light phenomena, watching my friend tap into the light's psychic network consciousness, traveling the astral plane, and burning the archetypal head of a goat demon. If you were there you know what the fuck i am talking about. To the future!