What do you get when you combine grind and art? A live rig that has a high potential to disintegrate right before your eyes, which is exactly as metal as it sounds.
On March 22nd, the legendary Napalm Death will play a gig at the V&A in London at 7:30 local time. The show will be accompanied by a ceramic sound system designed by artist Keith Harrison that has the potential to disintegrate during the performance, but slowly. Can you even imagine witnessing a concert so heavy that the speakers fall apart right before your eyes? That sounds sick. The band and artist say the sound system is "clad with ceramic tile," so I guess if they do fall apart the show can still go on without a hitch. Barney Greenway says about the show-
Sound as a weapon – or a weapon of change – is a very interesting concept and I think that the whole process of our sound gradually degrading clay sculptures is captivating. The noise element of music should never be understated and this exhibition at the V&A will hopefully demonstrate that music can do interesting things beyond the realms of clipped production techniques. On a personal level, particularly of interest to me is the fact that the sculptor Keith grew up around the very same area as me in Great Barr, Birmingham, and basing his sculptures around the tower blocks in that area brings back a lot of quirky memories mixed with the impressions of shameful deprivation in some of those places.
Harrison says he "wanted to invite Napalm Death to collaborate with me for this live performance at the Museum for the last of a series of Disruptions I have worked on throughout my residency," but like the rest of all of us reading this, I think he just wants to see grindcore dissolve some shit.
[thanks to MetalStorm for that]
