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08.10.2005, 18:00 -01:00
LONG NIGHT OF THE MUSEUMS
Danius Kesminas & The Histrionics: Museum Fatigue
 

As part of the Austrian -wide "Long Night of the Museums", Magazin4 is proud to present Danius Kesminas & The Histrionics and their brand new CD " Museum Fatigue".
Founded in 1999 by Australian artist Danius Kesminas, The Histrionics define themselves as a "conceptual -art -(heritage) -rock -cover band". The Histrionics project seeks to synthesize the attributes of popular music with the concerns of visual art culture. Presenting a unique combination of rock'n'roll, performance art, pedagogy and humour, The Histrionics have performed to rapturous audiences in many countries all over the world.
Danius Kesminas & The Histrionics: Museum Fatigue
Magazin4 presents a video jukebox travelogue retracing The Histrionics' 2003 and 2004 tours through European art institutions and galleries. The videos combine the lyrics of five songs on the new CD with found footage of Jackson Pollock, Andy Warhol, Isamo Noguchi, Alberto Giacometti and Tracey Emin. "Museum Fatigue" is a quite simple pun: a term used to refer to a spectator's short attention span in a museum, while "fatigue" also means "military uniform", thus referring to the band's Jackson Pollock outfits ("fatigues").

The Histrionics are (variously): Danius Kesminas, Antonio Milillo, Craig Fermanis, Dave O'Brien, Tommy Zdanius, Stepas Levickis, Dave Nelson, Greg Richards, Nick Girling, Boris Kremer, Ray Vysniauskas, Egidijus Gvildys, Tim Dean and Jon Campbell.

The video "Museum Fatigue", a selection of MTV -style music clips, contains the following lyrics:
1. Drip It Text >>
2. I Shot Andy Warhol Text >>
3. Children of Berlin Text >>
4. Sculpture's Back in Town Text >>
5. Tracey Text >>
   
 
   
 

1. "Drip It" (originally recorded as "Whip It" by Devo) analyses the modernist, predominantly American, phenomenon of drip painting identified with Jackson Pollock.
It is a music clip which has been produced to commemorate the 30th anniversary of the purchase of Jackson Pollock's "Blue Poles" ("Blue poles: Number 11", 1952) by the National Gallery of Australia in 2003. I t was then the highest price paid for a modern painting, triggering a substantial amount of controversy among the Australian public, one newspaper titling: "Drunks did it!". "Drip It" also reflects on the film "Jackson Pollock" (1950/51) by Hans Namuth who filmed the famous artist during his action painting.

2. "I Shot Andy Warhol" (originally recorded as "I Love Rock'n'Roll" by The Arrows) revisits the attempted assassination of Andy Warhol by Valerie Solanas and the ideology of her S.C.U.M. (Society for Cutting -Up Men) manifesto.

3. "Children of Berlin" (originally recorded as "Sultans of Swing" by Dire Straits) is an account of the machinations of the Berlin art -world. Furthermore this clip presents a reconstruction of Walter Ruttmann's "Symphony of a City" from 1927. In the 1920s, Ruttmann was one of the first film makers who used new technologies for cutting the film just in time to make it coincide with music.

4. "Sculpture's Back in Town" (originally recorded as "The Boys are Back in Town" by Thin Lizzy) focuses on the trajectory followed by many contemporary artists in their attempts to work in three dimensions and the inclination of art institutions to champion this revival.

5. "Tracey" (originally recorded as "Roxanne" by The Police) meditates on the controversial career of British artist/celebrity Tracey Emin.