good exhibition in liverpool

last night i went to the opening of ‘SOULWEIGHT’, a new exhibition by Dreamchord which is a record label by Yank Scally and Niloo Sharifi. Their first exhibition opened at OUTPUT gallery in Liverpool ie. the space that works exclusively with people from or based in the area ie. the space i used to run and still whole-heartedly love and support. i am now using my art influencer privilege to influence you to go to see the show while it’s still open because I am fans of both of the artists involved; Niloo was actually June’s recipient of the white pube writers grant :-)

from the press release: “In SOULWEIGHT, visitors are invited to place different objects on a set of scales - items present in the gallery, or anything from your pockets or bag. Each item will trigger unique variations in the music and visual projections which fill the gallery space. Utilising imagery based on user interfaces, control panels and video game health indicators, DREAMCHORD will suggest an alternate reality where technology is used in service of good, supporting the collective journey of the human spirit towards crystalline beauty.”

the exhibition is a cool, moody space, calm with the necessary emptiness around an alter / pixel art hand-painted on the wall showing an angel-figure, heady with stars and hearts and worshippers. there is a hidden beating heart-computer under a red cloth in the centre of the gallery, and it has a thali dish on top of it that functions as a scale. changing the weight of objects on the scale affects the generative music + the visuals projected onto one of the walls - - all monochrome and magic: art design like UI for witches. i feel dumb and mortal and impatient for seeing the work and immediately thinking ‘I want it on a t-shirt’ instead of letting the soundwork wash over me, instead of handling the objects on the scale and noting how things softly change - - but dreamchord are in fact selling t-shirts, and i was there all night so the aesthetic experience got to me anyway. I watched it get to other people too. A good cult. music looping and growing like some invisible braid, gold lasso / looping, soothing. I want the pixel angel painted on a wall in my house, keep an eye on the technology I use. (alexa wishes she could be her)

anyway big fan big fan. if I only like 1% of artist’s work, these 2 are in the 1%. very talented, committed, pure attention to detail, they deserve big grants to make whatever the fuck they want, wherever.

I also listen to yank scally’s album all the time:

dreamchord’s show is on til september 4, mooore details here

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