Cleveland Scene | Josh Usmani  |  July 06, 2015

New Collaboration on 'Bounce' Installation at SPACES Sets Hayride to 'Self-Destruct'

SPACES is always exploring new ways of creating through experimentation and collaboration. Yet another great example of this takes place from 8 to 10 p.m. this Friday, July 10, as local experimental musicians Chris Auerbach-Brown and Bbob Drake perform a free concert inspired by (and in collaboration with) Hayride, a pneumatic art installation by father and son collaborative duo, keegan and nick, currently on view at SPACES as part of their exhibition, Bounce. Friday night will also be your last chance to see this unique, interactive installation.

"keegan & nick were open to collaborating with local artists in some way, even though their time in Cleveland during the Bounce installation was brief," explains SPACES Executive Director Christina Vassallo. "We offered the idea of doing a performance on their Hayride installation and they were totally into it. The next stop, of course, was to ask Chris Auerbach-Brown and Bbob Drake if they'd want to play on top of a pneumatic device."

For this special performance, keegan & nick have set their device to "self-destruct."

"This performance is collaborative and we are leaving it to the musicians to consider the original concept of the piece, and yet make of the kinetic sculpture what they will," keegan & nick tell us. "We are welcoming the musicians to make Hayride their own and incorporate its dynamic (almost violent) behavior into their own vision. Hayride juxtaposes the serenity of a hayride with the terror of nuclear holocaust. The Hayride platform can be used purely as a percussive musical instrument. For this performance, we are going to turn up the air pressure on the pneumatic lifters turning this work of art into a potentially self destructive piece. We like to think of it as being in the tradition of Jean Tinguely's Homage to New York; safe, and yet seemingly increasingly dangerous."

The fun part is, no one really knows what to expect from this cross-disciplinary, collaborative experiment.

"Our performance at SPACES will be quite unpredictable, especially since we're incorporating an 8 foot square mounted pneumatic platform into the mix," promises Chris Auerbach-Brown. "I like this unstable element; it's like waiting for an M-80 to explode, but instead of hearing a loud bang you're showered with a burst of sparkly confetti."
Bounce This! promises to be a unique experience; incorporating saxophone, keyboards, handmade musical instruments, everyday household objects, electronics, musical saw and more.

"I will be playing alto sax, musical saw, junk from around the house and a ragged zither, while Bbob will utilize his amazing electronic gadgets, modular synthesizers and whatever else he may bring to the gig," expounds Auerbach-Brown. "These may even include refrigerator grates and homemade instruments."

It is sure to be a performance unlike anything you've seen before.

Original Article