SPACES is closed for deinstallation

We will share news about the upcoming shows soon--more to come.

July 8, 2012

The meronyms of an Anthem revealed

Posted in Category Exhibitions

The Cleveland Convention and Visitors Bureau show contains several anthems created by artists to represent the city. One of the anthems is a rather abrasive romp into a layered landscape of whining, chanting, and slowed singing. It leaps out of the pack of more talented and adept depictions of this fabled city in song. Cleveland Anthem BY WOLFY has several parts that can be discussed and revealed now.
First, is the extraordinary recording Cleveland On the GO! (pictured) by The Singing Angels feat. Cleveland's "Singing Mayor" Ralph J. Perk. The whole 45 rpm record is a joyous journey of sound through Cleveland Pride, faith, and showtunes. The title track has been sampled in two parts:
A. The Mayor's smoking intro slowed to a smoulder and
B. The Singing Angels uplifting exit from the song "Clevelandtown on the go Yeah!" left unaltered.
Second, The Mayor's intro is layered over two tracks that create the music that is the landscape of the anthem. One is the chime and squeal of hot dog the rollers recorded at a truckstop just outside Youngstown before a traveler has to enter the Ohio Turnpike to get to the Plum on Lake Erie. It is the open road, hot dogs, soda pop, and trucker's showers and it says United States of America.
Lastly, the sound of chanting behind the narration builds to a roar. This element is from an important moment in Cleveland history. It is Thursday, December 2nd, 2010 and the Cavaliers are about to play the Miami Heat. A Heat player has been introduced to the stadium and the crowd begins to chant a meronym of the human anatomy to welcome him.
These are the moments and sounds that define the city's joys and pains and creates the anthem for the place we call our hometown.
This hopefully explains and enlivens a piece that you can (until July 13th) or may have experienced (since May11th) at Spaces.

+Jef Scharf of Gallery Wolfy Part II writing about Wolfy Part II's music submission.

The Artist would also like you to watch this vintage clip of The Singing Angels singing The Lord's Prayer. Many of those fresh young Cleveland kids are now Cleveland's parents, leaders, or maybe even someone chanting at the Quicken Loans. It makes you lucky to be alive to enjoy the jumps and swaggers that can only manifest on aging video footage. Look closely at those record sleeve children and see if you can find if any appear in the footage too. Beautiful and thanks to WEWS for posting that. They also have footage of Mayor Perk's hair catching fire.

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