MSB brainstorming

16 July 2014

Brandl's Drawer of 45s

Here are some quick photos of my art object of 2011, Drawer of 45s. It is a drawer with a painting in enamel, oil and acrylic on canvas and several additional cut-out paintings in enamel, oil and acrylic on cardboard. They mimic old 45 single records. Each is an homage to various people and interests of mine; the labels are additionally allusions to various actual record labels and a couple sleeves.

The whole drawer:





The 45 presaging the creation of my actual Theme Song "Shut Up and Paint" by the Handcuffs.





The 45 for Marcel duchamp's single musical composition:





An imaginary sleeve for music from or about Whorl Earl (tm), a character I up who appears in several of my paintings:





The 45 and sleeve for Kurt Schwitters, Merzmusik, an Urblues instead of an Ursonata:


Just a hint of an imaginary sleeve for something about Vlies und Vlügel, or Fleece and Flock, both (tm), characters from a comic by Th Emil Homerin and I of several years ago. Something we did just for fun.




A 45 for a favorite quotation of mine, by St. Augustine about hope:

An imaginary sleeve for how I conceive of much of my art, "Big Beat Art." There was an actual LP in the 60s similar to this for Big Beat music in France, which is what we Americans call "British Invasion" rock:





A 45 with another of critical outcries in despair over the contemporary artworld:





A 45 as an homage to fellow artist H.R. Fricker, a mail/correspondence/networker/Fluxus artist living near me in Switzerland:


A 45 with a declaration of love for Cornelia. The ability to write real love songs is something I envy musicians:




A 45 riffing on the title of the first real concept album, with the name of my house in Switzerland (yes, it has a name "Im Höckli") and my then pets, with an image of River:




 A 45 riffing on Chess records, written in Swissgerman form, and my intense relationship to vernacular culture, which is a relationship largely is absent in artists in the Germanophone world:



A 45 with label based on the visuals of one of the earliest known records in Switzerland. In Latin and German, critiquing the problem of Sophistry, something I often berate:



A 45 sleeve for my pals the great Rockers the Handcuffs. Imaginary 60s style, or so:




You know the "Meet the Beatles" album, I'm certain. Well here's a "Meet Brandl" 45 sleeve. Top left me about now, top 2nd from left me in the 80s, top right me in the 70s/late 60s, bottom, me a wee lad, as Zorro which was often then.



A 45 for the famous 4' 33" of silence piece by John Cage. I always fantasized performing it myself with a Garage Rock Band, like The Outsiders, whose hit "Time Won't Let Me" was fabulous. John is seen with his cat. i was at his 70th birthday party on a boat on Lake Michigan and talked to him. We talked about art and music, but mostly cats and mushroom hunting. The others references are to his an my interest in Zen. A friend of mine, composer Kyle Gann (with whom I collaborated on an installation back in the 80s in Chicago) wrote a great book about that Cage piece.



A sleeve for a project freind and filmmaker Stephen Krag and I still may realize someday, Art Tryst (tm):


A 45 for an imaginary single by a long-time friend of mine, a Blues fanatic, Jeff Timian:



A 45 making a visual allusion to the Capitol single "I Want to Hold Your hand," the first music I ever bought at the age of about 11. It changed my life. I made it a single here for some imaginary music based on my PhD dissertation:





And finally, a 45 of an imaginary Protest/Blues song "Innerhalb der Schweiz mit den Chicago Blues Schon Wieder,"something like "Stuck Inside of Switzerland with Chicago Blues Again." An obvious riff on Bob Dylan, and his name is on it translated in meaning and form to "Röbi Flusssohn," "Bob River-son", which is what 'Dylan' means:


My painting-object-usually-presented-as-an-installation thing. Based on a drawer of 45s.




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