~BRODY CONDON/’CASE’ !!
STO – of CINDERS – is in the – BRODY CONDON – ‘CASE’ – NEW MUSEUM PERFORMANCE !!
BRODY CONDON presents: ‘CASE’ !!
SUNDAY – NOV 22, 2009 – runs from 12 – 6 PM !!
NEW MUSEUM – LOWER EAST SIDE
This event has been commissioned and presented by RHIZOME and PERFORMA 09.
yes !! check out: BRODY CONDON !!
A performance & installation based on the famous ‘classic’ cyberpunk novel – ‘NEUROMANCER’ – by WILLIAM GIBSON !! This 1984 novel – the most famous early cyberpunk fiction outing – tells: “the story of a washed-up computer hacker hired by a mysterious employer to work on the ultimate hack!!” The event will be a ‘deadpan’ reading of the novel by mostly non-professional actors in a casual, dress rehearsal-like atmosphere !! BRODY CONDON tells us the performance “combining the 1980s dystopian techno-fetishism of William Gibson
with early 2oth C abstraction faux ‘virtual reality’ – scenes will unfold via moving Bauhaus-inspired sculptural props – accompanied by a Gamelan ensemble !! – Dharma Swara” !!
OMFG – check out: Dharma Swara on YouTUBE !!
This premiere NYC performance of ‘Case’ – will feature some very very interesting cast members. who ?
Political activist (and notorious hell-raiser/mid-west-based) RAY ‘BAD RAD’ RADTKE – who will star as the main character – HENRY DORSETT CASE – a drug addict and computer hacker hired “to execute an impossible cyber-crime”.
STO – of CINDERS – a Brooklyn-based gallerist/artist/small press founder/musician/performance artist/& much more we are sure !! – much respected locally in NYC – in all his facets !! – will play LUPUS YONDERBOY – leader of the techno-anarchust gang – the PANTHER MODERNS !!
and, SASHA GREY – the young (21 !!) alternative porn actress & techno, wait that’s: ‘industrial music’ – musician !! …
will be: the street samurai MOLLY !!
yes !! check out: SASHA GREY !! on wikkki !!
talk about a cast – line-up !!
The script has been prepared by the writer BRANDON STOSUY, yes !! check out: THE BELIEVER/BRANDON STOSUY !!
The sound design is by: PETER SEGERSTROM – and, yes !!
check out: FLATFILE !! – aka – the “digital igloo” of PETER SEGERSTROM.
and last but not least, the graphic props are by: BREANNE TRAMMELL !!
and, check out: AGAIN – BREANNE TRAMMELL – and color her – in !!
watch out !! – with this much (radical) talent concentrated in one place – the island might just – tip over !!
note, look out MISSOURI !!
BRODY CONDON also tells us, his – ‘CASE’ – will be performed at “a small outdoor community theater in rural Missouri – Summer 2010” !!
PIX FROM THE NEW MUSEUM PERFORMANCE – SUNDAY NOV 22, 2009 !!
. . . we had to get into the New Museum under an assumed identity – cause artlovers has been blacklisted by the museum’s press office !! (I wonder why ??!!) so it was kind of fitting to run into IAN, a founding member of NYC’s BLACK LABEL TALL BIKE CLUB and a dynamic presence on the city’s (truly) underground art scene !! he has a part in the production.
STO – had just finished his part !! he played Lupus Yonderboy, leader of the techno-anarchist gang – the Panther oderns.
JEE – JEE YOUNG SIM – she played the street Ninja – Hideo !!
KELIE BOWMAN, with sculptor RYAN DOYLE – was there to lend her support to the production.
BRODY CONDON – PHOTO BY: KRISTIANNA SMITH COURTESY/BRODY CONDON.
His project: ‘Case’ – “is the deadpan reading of the classic cyberpunk novel Neuromancer by William Gibson in a rehearsal-like atmosphere.”
This NYC performance was the premiere presentation.
BRODY CONDON’S body of work “explores concerns about the over-identification with fantasy in contemporary culture, frequently incorporating modified computer games and role-playing subcultures to create performance and video installation. Past exhibitions include the 2004 Whitney Biennial, Pace Wildenstein Gallery, Mattress Factory, and the Stedelijk Museum in Amsterdam”.
the performance had resumed – and the lights went slightly colored, and theatrical !!
this ANDREW CLAY McGRAW Ph.d., Assistant Professor, Music / Ethnomusicology at the University of Richmond, VIRGINIA.
He is the leader of the Gamelan Ensemble – DHARMA SWARA !!
I guess it was too much to expect the GAMELAN to show up in formal costumes (as in the YouTube clip above), though think that would have made a huge visual contrast – the play, or performance really – actually a reading – being so casual, and presented so, well: like it is – punk dudes lost in cyberspace !!
it was still fascinating to watch the scenes unfold – through the alert eyes – of the first – frontier !!
the Gamelan musicians !!
the simple scenery props contrasted in a counter-intuitive but, subtle dynamic way – with the ornate Gamelan.
in fact subtle, low key – was the under-riding vibe.
there was always this underlying strange tension – between the now – simple and straightforward – and the futuristic forces – of creativity. I guess you could say the Gamelan also presented a framework – a connection to the past – where tribalism meets globalism – going into the future.
there’s no way to post a photo of it – but there was this strange eerie soundtrack going on, too – throughout out the whole performance – except when the Gamelan chimed in, like tin thunder – and overrode it.
at first I thought it was just the ‘White Noise’ of the Museum !!?? but then – I’m like – does the Museum really have those kind of mechanical gears working down here, even though the performance space – was below ground level ?
it was this kind of Mad Max futuristic track – you know – old obsolete mechanical gears – of several generations back – in the future – working deep in the forgotten city – pit.
it was extremely cool – and effective. I guess that would be accolades to PETER SEGERSTROM – the musical director !!
waiting for things to start up. watching the reading – being staged – was like watching a play within a play – and seemed very appropriate – for the story-line. it also brought the viewer into the: present. that is, cyberspace circa 1980 !!
LIONEL – read the part of ARMITAGE.
SASHA GREY comes onstage – with RAY ‘BAD RAY’ RADDTKE, “political activist and notorious hell-raiser” – in real time – who played the main character – Henry Dorsett Case – “a drug addict and computer hacker hired to execute an impossible cyber crime.”
BRODY CONDON, in the gray shirt – instructs the cast – as the event – plays out.
SASHA GREY was a transfixing stage presence.
She played Molly.
an overview – this was Part 3. Midnight in the Rue Jules Verne.
MELISSA BAXTER – from Missouri. She read the part of Maelcum.
yes, we caught – IAN – in his stage time.
BRODY CONDON presents: ‘CASE’ – a reading of WILLIAM GIBSON’S – ‘Neuromancer’ – at the New Museum of Contemporary Art. Sunday, Nov 22, 2009. NYC.
Script by BRANDON STOSUY.
Sound Design by PETER SEGERSTROM.
Casting by RAY RADTKE, BRANDON STOSUY.
LIVE MUSIC: GAMELAN DHARMA SWARA – directed by ANDREW CLAY McGRAW.
when, the DHrama Swara Gamelan took intermissions – it was a 6 hr performance !! – it brought to mind – how much this novel, and Brody’s staging – was so raw – and low down beautiful, in the street – tough – cool – low profile. but edge-city !!
fascinating – for what it said, and what lay between the lines, and – in the empty spaces.
of the here, now. past & past future !!
I guess you could say – the ornate golden ancient gongs, percussion chimes and drums – and the tiny plastic blue stools – the musicians sat on – kind of summed it up: ancient Asian tribalism meets Chinese mass production – in a tale of
global cyberspace – gone Mad Max. and, the underground artist activists – who read the roles – underground ‘futurists’ – in their own real time lives – pretty much. of that, there is no – doubt.
PHOTOS: NANCY SMITH – unless otherwise noted.