In Waves: Arp + RO/LU + Paul Clipson
The collective group installation and world premiere of the Super 8mm video for “Pulsars e Quasars”
Electronic musician Alexis Georgopoulos (aka Arp) is no stranger to collaboration or experimentation. The NYC-based artist has worked with as many fellow musicians as he has painters, sculptors and illustrators. His latest work with Minneapolis studio RO/LU and San Francisco-based filmmaker Paul Clipson sees each artist’s work contribute to an all-encompassing gallery experience. “In Waves”—on view now at NYC’s Jack Hanley Gallery—is an interactive music, film and sculpture installation playing upon light, texture, shape and ambient sound. Georgopoulos composed an undulating score for the installation using a Moog synthesizer and the help of Nicky Mao (aka Hiro Kone) on violin and piano. Viewers are invited to rearrange RO/LU’s ambiguous forms while Clipson’s 16mm film and Arp’s C minor, Dorian-only audio plays in imperfect unison. The light, shapes and harmony of music are ever-changing, resulting in a different experience with each viewing. Channeling a similar energy in 8mm film form is Arp’s video for “Pulsars e Quasars,” also directed by Clipson and debuting exclusively here on CH.
“Though his work is incredibly inviting, he likes challenging the viewer a bit,” Georgopoulos says of Clipson’s Super 8mm film. Clipson draws on in-camera techniques for the trippy visuals, including double and triple exposures and manipulating film speeds. Like the “In Waves” installation, collaborating led Georgopoulos to see his own work in a new light. “I’ve always felt the song had an autumnal quality—more cobblestone than beach,” Georgopoulos explains. “Paul [Clipson] puts us on the beach, just before fall, when summer is still present—a time we have a hard time realizing is still here because we know what comes next.”
“In Waves” is on view at NYC’s Jack Hanley Gallery through 5 October 2014. Arp’s upcoming record Pulsars e Quasars drops 23 September on Mexican Summer records.
Images by Hans Aschim
