Destroyer

My 2 yr old daughter made this fantastic sticker design. 

The Wanderer, Illustration by "Phiz"

wanderer by phiz, originally uploaded by colepierce.

Phiz does these great illustrations in Charles Dickens, David Copperfield

Nelson Will Take Over From Now On, side B

Side B of Tyler Carter's mixtape Nelson Will Take Over From Now On (circa 2002). 55 minute mp3 zipped and uploaded to sendspace. idm, downtempo, hip-hop tinged. download it here.

Charles Dickens, David Copperfield

CHAPTER XXXVIII
A DISSOLUTION OF PARTNERSHIP

I did not allow my resolution, with respect to the Parliamentary Debates, to cool. It was one of the irons I began to heat immediately, and one of the irons I kept hot, and hammered at, with a perseverance I may honestly admire. I bought an approved scheme of the noble art and mystery of stenography (which cost me ten and sixpence); and plunged into a sea of perplexity that brought me, in a few weeks, to the confines of distraction. The changes that were rung upon dots, which in such a position meant such a thing, and in such another position something else, entirely different; the wonderful vagaries that were played by circles; the unaccountable consequences that resulted from marks like flies' legs; the tremendous effects of a curve in a wrong place; not only troubled my waking hours, but reappeared before me in my sleep. When I had groped my way, blindly, throught these difficulties, and had mastered the alphabet, which was an Egyption Temple in itself, there then appeared a procession of new horrors, called arbitrary characters; the most despotic characters I have ever known; who insisted, for instance, that a thing like the beginning of a cobweb, meant expecation, and that a pen and ink sky-rocket stood for disadvantageous. When I had fixed these wretches in my mind, I found that they had driven everything else out of it; then, beginning again, I forgot them; while I was picking them up, I dropped the other fragments of the system; in short, it was almost heart-breaking.

pp 444-445

yoko ono is now following me on twitter

Nelson Will Take Over From Now On, side A

Tyler Carter mixtape, circa 2002. This is side A. Nelson's Mandate, 55 min mp3 zipped and uploaded to sendspace. Side B will be available next week. If you listened to the first T.Carter mixtape, you know the drill: idm, indie rock, clever interludes, spoken word samples. Download it here.

About LD . . .

Alas, I digitized a Tyler Carter mixtape for you.
idm, post-rock circa 2001, sprinkled with TC's
bedroom turntablism. Richard Nixon samples
galore. Download a .zip from sendspace here:
Check out Tyler's blog: iwantedtowriteanemail

floppydisc

floppydisc3, originally uploaded by colepierce.

dipped in oil paint

Always Infinity Universal Inner Tube

P1000280, originally uploaded by colepierce.

meeting notes

my notes from a meeting at work, mandatory for all staff to attend.

Angles, 2009

Little Village North Lawndale High School / Chicago Ave Bridge

Seven Random Things

I was tagged by both Harper Reed and Melissa Pierce to do this meme. At the end of this post I will tag 7 lucky people to post their own 7 random things about themselves.

First off, even though this post is about random things, there is nothing random about this list and they are not things. This list of attributes, events, situations and idiosyncrasies were methodically chosen. This meme, or viral blog thingy is like an online icebreaker, or teambuilding activity in the blogosphere. Weird, huh? If I were going to make a list of random facts about myself I’d have to make a list of every fact about myself and then pull 7 out of a hat. I just don’t have that kind of free time on my hands. So I’m going to pick 7 things that most of you do not know about me, that are odd, quirky, unique, maybe banal, things that make me seem cooler than I am and things that make me seem funnier than I am.

One
I have webbed toes. In between 2 toes on each foot, the second and third toes are webbed.

Two
I grew up on a tree farm in Iowa, but most of our land was CRP acres, which means my dad was paid to keep it real, no commercial development. Kind of like growing up on a state park, rural isolation, which for a 9 year old is complete freedom. Another weird fact from when I was 8 or 9, some older kids nicknamed me Piernov: a. because I was a fast runner and pierna is leg in Spanish, b. the resemblance of Pierce to pierna, and c. no idea why it became Russian.

Three
Somewhere around 2003-04, Brock Manke dubbed me the “Thomas Edison of Trash Culture”. I’m not sure what this means but it sounds cool. Brock used to dj at Innjoy on Tuesdays, which is where I met my wife Melissa. Harper introduced me to Melissa on one of those Tuesdays, and these 2 are who tagged me in this meme.

Four
I’ve been on a Bosnian TV show called Central Prison. Actually it was my grad school colleagues and I sitting in on the talk show interview with our teacher, Damir Niksic. He hooked us up with a spot to do a video installation in the Sarajevo Winter Festival. Some other funny stuff happened on that trip, like the girl informing me I have a “multicultural face”, and Fenchel and I djing a bar until they made us stop after I played “Purple Bottle” by Animal Collective. By the end of the trip my colleagues and I referred to each other as Dannys. It’s a long story.

Five
My art practice has led me to some odd activities. I have made paintings with an eggbeater. I have dunked a pair of ski boots in a bucket of paint. I made a video of myself playing basketball on a court full of mulberries. I convinced 18 people to make a mixtape for Brad Pitt and Jennifer Aniston (back in the day), and send the tape to me. I sent the box of tapes to the celebrity couple, without promise of receipt. By chance, one day Brad Pitt was drinking a cup of coffee outside my workplace and I asked him if he received the box of tapes or if he knew about my project. He knew nothing, and calmly asked me about it, then was whisked away by his people. In college, while on a semester arts gig in Chicago, my class was assigned to do a public art performance. I dressed up in a dog costume, got on all fours on a skateboard while Michelle Deva Jebb (in exorcise gear) jogged and pulled me around the Gold Coast neighborhood. There were always people jogging with dogs in that area. I barked at a dog.

Six
I like my coffee black and my whiskey neat, however I embrace herbs, spices and sauces in and on the food I eat. I can cook a good stir fry, some excellent soups, have perfected a collard greens recipe and am working on the perfect gumbo.

Seven
I have worked at the Chicago Teachers Center of NEIU ever since I moved to Chicago in 2001, in many capacities. Here is a list: Videographer, Teambuilding Facilitator, Improv Workshops, Movie Workshops, Climbing Wall instructor, Leadership Camps, High Ropes Course, Video Afterschool Clubs, and once and only once - Bus & Field Trip Coordinator for a summer program.

There, its done. Now its time for me to pass on the energy ball. Here are the next 7 people to post 7 random things about themselves on their blog.

1. Tyler Carter
   
2. Julie Rudder
   
3. Roxane Hopper
   
4. Steve Nyktas
   
5. Miguel Cortez
   
6. Jason Shanley
7. Martine Syms
   

The rules of this ‘game’ for those that I have tagged:

• Link your original tagger(s), and list these rules on your blog.
• Share seven facts about yourself in the post - some random, some weird.
• Tag seven people at the end of your post by leaving their names and the links to their blogs.
• Let them know they’ve been tagged by leaving a comment on their blogs and/or Twitter

Th

red line window

red line window, originally uploaded by colepierce.

The world looks so rational from here.

Floppy Discs Drying

DSC00263, originally uploaded by colepierce.

2008 in Review, Best Music Albums

I made this list in my sleep last night.

1. Koen Holtkamp - Field Rituals, (Type)
2. Tape - Luminarium, (Hapna)
3. Jacaszek - Treny (Miasmah)
4. Machinefabriek - Dauw (Dekorder)
5. Dead Letters Spell Dead Words - Lost in Reflections (When Skies are Gray)
6. Alva Noto - Unitxt (Rastor-Noton)
7. Paavoharju - Laulu Laakson Kukista (Fonal)
8. Fennesz - Black Sea (Touch)
9. Flying Lotus - Los Angeles (Warp)
10. TV on the Radio - Dear Science (Interscope)
11. Mira Calix - The Elephant in the Room: 3 Commissions (Warp)
12. Bersarin Quartet - Bersarin Quartet (Lidar)
13. Deerhunter - Microcastle (Kranky)
14. Ellen Allien - Sool (Bpitch Control)

In Process Wall Installation

Piano Clockworks Sound Installation

Video documentation of a sound installation I exhibited at Old Gold in 2008.

Ames Room Mix CD

Modern Classical Ambient Mix
Download

Ames Room

Part 1
Untitled Found Cassette, Audio Diary Cole Pierce
Chimaerica - Johann Johannsson - Fordlandia
Powoli - Jacaszek - Treny
Budeie Med Sigd - Svarte Greiner - Til Seters
IV. A final shaking - de Waart, Edo - Shaker Loops
Section III - Chris Schlarb - Twilight & Ghost Stories

Part 2
Tendrils In Vigne - Gregg Kowalsky - Tendrils In Vigne
Death and Possible Dreams - Roam The Hello Clouds - Near Misses
Au Clair de la Lune--French folk song (1860 Phonautogram) Phonautogram by Édouard-Léon Scott de Martinville Recorded on April 9, 1860: 1861 Deposit, Académie des Sciences (No. 324), Number 5
Reversed Flames - Tape - Mort Aux Vaches
Untitled Found Tape, Answering Machine Messages - Cole Pierce
Uusi Aamu - Hannu - Worms in my Piano
Disconnected - Twine - Violets

Part 3
1 - CoH - Super Suprematism
On A Desolate Shore A Shadow Passes By - FENNESZ - On A Desolate Shore A Shadow Passes By
Make Haste - Koen Holtkamp - Make Haste
i auzi, mandra, pitigoiul (1951) - elena constantinescu - Michael May Mix 000
Clear Music - Nico Muhly - speaks volumes

ps (wikipedia)

An Ames room is a distorted room that is used to create an optical illusion. Probably influenced by the writings of Hermann Helmholtz, it was invented by American ophthalmologist Adelbert Ames, Jr. in 1934, and constructed in the following year.

An Ames room is constructed so that from the front it appears to be an ordinary cubic-shaped room, with a back wall and two side walls parallel to each other and perpendicular to the horizontally level floor and ceiling. However, this is a trick of perspective and the true shape of the room is trapezoidal: the walls are slanted and the ceiling and floor are at an incline, and the right corner is much closer to the front-positioned observer than the left corner (or vice versa).

As a result of the optical illusion, a person standing in one corner appears to the observer to be a giant, while a person standing in the other corner appears to be a dwarf. The illusion is convincing enough that a person walking back and forth from the left corner to the right corner appears to grow or shrink.

Studies have shown that the illusion can be created without using walls and a ceiling; it is sufficient to create an apparent horizon (which in reality will not be horizontal) against an appropriate background, and the eye relies on the apparent relative height of an object above that horizon.

Skipping Stones Reflection on Text & Art Discussion

On Sunday I participated in a roundtable discussion about using text in art. Hopefully the entire conversation will be published, not only because I was part of it, because it was a comprehensive overview of the different ways text is being used in paintings. Co-moderated by Bert Stabler and Noah Berlatsky, the talk was much more academic and theoretical than I anticipated. However when the discussion would get too heady, a gentleman in the audience who initially admitted that this kind of work was new to him and this was an educational experience for him, and would kindly ask for definitions and information about the artists names we were tossing around. Noah provided the expertise on the history of concrete poetry, and even touched on early political cartoons in relation to text and art. Bert did an excellent job providing a historical framework of text-based artwork, as well as effortlessly summing up modern theoretical issues. I suspect he is planning to write an article on the subject and used this roundtable for research. The other participants involved were Carol Jackson and Diana Guerrero-Macia, both of who are artists in the middle of their career and teach at SAIC. Instead of recapping the entire conversation (waiting for the recording to be transcribed) I want to jump to the last topic we discussed. Without getting too into it, we started talking about meta strategies in contemporary art and punk rock. Mostly because the composition in Diana's work sometimes resembles early zines and punk rock cover art. Soon hereafter, I was asked two questions that threw me for a loop. I wish I could quote Bert's question verbatim, but a paraphrase will have to do. He asked me whether or not I sided with the Ramones' flickering spirit of hope, or with the defeatist coopting Ikea capitalists. What kind of question is that? Of course I side with the Ramones. I think this question also deals with the general attitude shift toward earnestness. People are tired of irony, and now artists are either sincerely optimistic or sincerely pessimistic. Carol then asked me if I considered myself part of the avant-garde. I said yes, then changed my answer to 'I don't think about avant-garde while I'm working, I just investigate my interests and focus on what makes my art interesting'. This is true, but the question seems to highlight the generational difference between artists who studied in the 80's and my contemporaries who studied in the past decade. If you think about 80's art, there was a clear us vs. them thing going on, a bifurcation, zines vs. mass media. Identity politics had a clear enemy, and artists who wanted to see change directed their aggression succinctly. Everything was cut and dry, you either were part of the avant-garde or you weren't. But now we've seen every counter-culture style and tactic become co-opted into a market strategy for H&M or a leaked viral video for Miller High Life. Now we get the Yes Men hijacking corporate conferences, infiltrating and impersonating The Man. And we get artists like Allora & Callzadilla who use conventional gallery type art along with public interventions. As for an avant-garde meta strategy, this would be a blending or chameleon strategy. No more us vs. them. With all the pluralism in the 90's, the inter-disciplinary practices, considering everything in the past century that has expanded art, along with irony being unfashionable, artists are now more free to hack away at their elusive thesis. An upside of the pending market collapse is that it may allow more freedom to artists, to create work without the pressure of the market. This recession could be a long one, but once it is over who knows what those artists are going to drag out of their studios.

Text & Art Reading & Discussion

Old Gold and MAKE Literary Productions present

A special reading and discussion with Noah Berlatsky, Diana Guerrero-Macia,
Carol Jackson, Cole Pierce, and Bert Stabler

Sunday November 16th at 4:30 in the afternoon

Please join us for this unique event, which will include brief readings, a slideshow, and roundtable discussion.

This event will double as closing reception for Cole Pierce's Piano Clockworks, a painting and sound installation that meditates upon repetition, the mystery of infinity, and the rendered line. The exhibition will be on view from 1-4 o'clock, as well as during the discussion.


Old Gold
2022 North Humboldt Boulevard
Chicago, Illinois 60647
Basement Entrance
Sundays 1-4PM
By Appointment 773.653.9956
oldgoldchicago@gmail.com
www.oldgoldexhibitionsandevents.com

California Blue Line (towards O'Hare),
Walk west on Palmer Boulevard,
South on Humboldt Boulevard to 2022

OG

I was recently featured in a Gen Art Pulse article, where I was interviewed about my (at the time upcoming) show at Old Gold as well as compiling a list of my Chicago hotspots. I put most of my energy into writing about my work, and rushed through my 'guide to chicago'. However, it is amazing how well Meredith Chamberlain, the editor condensed my lengthy reply into one catchy short paragraph.

"Cole Pierce's "Piano Clockworks" is a medley of sound installation and painting, inspired and comprised of Victorian piano innards and everyday objects. And while neither project resembles or sounds like a piano, Pierce's work promises to arouse your ears, eyes, and get you lost in a state of reverie. Basically just prepare yourself for sensory overload." - Meredith Chamberlain, Gen Art Pulse, 10/27/08

And here is my response to: What is the focus of your show? What about this particular opportunity at Old Gold excites you? What draws you to found objects?

"The first time I visited Old Gold I wanted to exhibit work there. I had heard it was a weird space with wood paneled walls, something like your best friends basement when you were a kid. What I didn’t expect was to feel such a strong sense of history. There are engravings on a post that date back to 1940, and its easy to assume that its been an underground bar for decades, maybe even a speakeasy in the 30's. It is well hidden in the basement of a nondescript apartment complex. Whatever Old Gold’s specific history, what remains is a mysterious context. My previous exhibition was a video installation where the audio played a prominent role and Old Gold seemed like the perfect place for a sound installation. My practice is centered around an effort to test or locate the limits of cognition, and I want to build on Old Gold's mysterious context, enhance it with sound and paintings.

Piano Clockworks is equally as mysterious as Old Gold. Part of the show is environmental, a visceral experience of mystery. The sound installation is a formless ambient soundscape, made out of improvised piano sets, a ticking clock, faulty recording equipment, and endless experimentation with analog and digital manipulations. I printed an edition of 50 CD’s which are available for purchase. And, like any former speakeasy, Chresten Sorenson will be serving his Kitchen Ale homebrew.

My recent paintings vary from ethereal monochromes to playful text to mind boggling op art. I favor techniques that are meant for repetition like screen printing and stencils. In one series, an image of a piano hammer is repeated and layered in a haphazard pattern. The piano hammer paintings as well as the sound installation are deconstructed pianos. Neither of the two projects resemble the look or sound of a piano. Notes of this Victorian instrument have been stretched, chopped up and repeated. And part of the mechanism which creates a note, is the image that has been repeated to fill up a series of canvases. The source material has been mediated beyond recognition, and what remains is a visceral, flickering moment. My work provides two types of flickering experiences, one that is haptic and environmental, and one that is cerebral.

I am drawn to found objects because they have a direct relationship with the everyday. The experiences I create with my artwork can be found in everyday pragmatic life, and I use found objects to point this out. Sometimes found objects are the impetus for my work. However, even when it is not apparent in my work, my affinity for found objects is important to my practice. I keep collections of obsolete items like floppy discs and dead batteries in my studio that currently do nothing but provide the creative atmosphere I need. I like to keep rooted to the mundane materials, because I don’t believe that the experiences I create are transcendental, they are not epiphanies. The experience remains immanent, and the flicker is only the limit of cognition. "

I wrote that before installing the show. I don't think I knew what I was up against. It was a struggle to find a balance between the space and my paintings. I knew that the sound installation would be a good fit, that the creepy storage room and my ambient soundscape would teeter between alienating and comforting. As for the paintings, I had to ignore my metanarrative or overarching reasons for making paintings, and just respond to the rich context. My editing process shifted, so I favored paintings that were more autonomous than others and choosing a location that let the painting fit into the architecture, or achieve a harmony within the space.

You are invited to visit, this show runs until November 16th and is open on Sundays from 1 - 4, and by appointment. View photos the show in my flickr set. Video documentation of the sound installation will be up soon, and Piano Clockworks the album is now on last.fm. Promises promises.

Old Gold Exhibitions & Events 2022 North Humboldt Boulevard Chicago, Illinois 60647 South Entrance, Basement California Blue Line (towards O'Hare) Walk West on Palmer Street South on Humboldt Boulevard to 2022 Hours: Sundays, 1 - 4 pm By appointment 773.653.9956 oldgoldchicago@gmail.com Directors: Kathryn Scanlan and Caleb Lyons

Here I am in Time Out Chicago and Gen Art Pulse f News previewed Piano Clockworks, but I havent seen it. same with Chicago Tribune

Lets talk about music

I recently received this message from a friend who I had given music to.

"peace brother. I am sitting here (finally) going through the CD u gave me of dub/reggae/soul. This is is a great catalog. I only had a little bit of it. I tell you what, I know alot of these names from way back in my Rastafarian days. U diggin' deep into the crates. U went back with the Linval Thompson, Yabba Yu, and so on. Never even heard of Burial, deadbeat, disrupt so thx plenty for putting them on my radar as you have. Heard of Richie Havens but couldn't pick his music out of a line up for the life of me. Mulatu Astake....DAMN!!!!!! Good Looking Brother!!! That's what the f'ck is up!! I'm feeling it!! Bim Sherman..never heard of him that I can recall, so U got 1 up on me since u got the music haha (Danger's hot) Goldenlocks too). Desmond Dekker's classic, early bob marley partner. Lee Perry, goeas w/o saying. I got Beastie Boys first issue of their mag w "The Upsetter" on the Cover. THey idolize Scratch (so do I). Saw him perform at the Cubby Bear b4 (Burning Spea!
r too).
Al Hirt...HOTT! sleeping on that neva heard of him. "Girl" is the shit. also, the Harlem Hendoo was sampled by none other than DELASOUL on I think "Buhloone Mindstate" album (their third after 3 feet high and Dela Dead albums. That Harlem Hendoo is Bangin'. Timi Yuro .. WOW. Thanks brother. I got mad files for you whenever your ready."

Better Photos of New Work

Charles Dickens: Great Expectations

We entered this haven through a wicket-gate, and were disgorged by an introductory passage into a melancholy little square that looked to me like a flat burying-ground. I thought it had the most dismal trees in it, and the most dismal sparrows, and the most dismal cats, and the most dismal houses (in number half a dozen or so), that I had ever seen. I thought the windows of the sets of chambers into which those houses were divided, were in every stage of dilapidated blind and curtain, crippled flower-pot, cracked glass, dusty decay, and miserable makeshift; while To Let To Let To Let, glared at me from empty rooms, as if no new wretches ever came there, and the vengeance of the soul of Barnard were being slowly appeased by the gradual suicide of the present occupants and their unholy interment under the gravel.  A frouzy mourning of soot and smoke attired this forlorn creation of Barnard, and it had strewed ashes on its head, and was undergoing penance and humiliation as a mere dust-hole. Thus far my sense of sight; while dry rot and wet rot and all the silent rots that rot in neglected roof and cellar - rot of rat and mouse and bug and coaching-stables near at hand besides - addressed themselves faintly to my sense of smell, and moaned, 'Try Barnard's Mixture'. 

Back Issue Mix CD

I just got around to uploading 2 mix cds that I had made and given away last spring. So if you attended Vega Estates' group show last April and picked up a mix from me, this post is not for you. However if you just joined my mailing list and are enticed by the last cd I mailed out, then you should download this seamless double cd. Aquatic Music Box is a featherweight, an eclectic and quirky mix of ambient, electronic, minimal jazz and paired down soul music. Its' counterpart, Wintry Day & Night is a brooding Charles Dickens novel, full of long modern classical compositions.

Aquatic Music Box

Wintry Day & Night

Its now why, but how. 

-Lily

from The Magas

John Fowles: The Magas

pp 237-238

 'I say you are watching a star a star and you are watching a star. It is that gentle star, white star, gentle star . . .'

  He went on talking , but all the curtness, the abruptness of his ordinary manner had disappeared. It was as if the lulling sound of the sea, the feel of the wind, the texture of my coat, and his voice dropped out of conciousness. There was a stage when I was myself looking at the star, still lying on the terrace; I mean aware of lying and watching the star, if not of anything else. 

  Then came a strange illusion; that I was not looking up, but down into space, as one looks down a well. 

  Then there was no clearly situated and environmented self; there was the star, not closer but with something of the isolation a telescope gives; not one of a pattern of stars, but itself, floating in the blue-black breath of space, in a kind of void. I remember very clearly this sense, this completely new strange perceiving of the star as a ball of white light both breeding and needing the void around it; of, in retrospect, a related sense that I was exactly the same, suspended in a dark void. I was watching the star and the star was watching me. We were poised, exactly equal weights, if one can think of awareness a a weight, held level in a balance. This seemed to endure and endure, I don't know how long, two entities equally suspended in a void, equally opposite, devoid of any meaning or feeling. There was no sensation of beauty, morality, of divinity, of physical geometry; simply the sensation of the situation. As an animal might feel. 

  Then a rise of tension. I was expecting something. The waiting was a waiting for. I did not know if it would be audible or visible, which sense. But it was trying to come, and I was trying to discover its coming. There seemed to be no more star. perhaps he had made me close my eyes. The void was all. I remember two words, Conchis must spoken them: glisten, and listen. There was the glistening, listening void; darkness and expectation. Then there came a wind on my face, a perfectly physical sensation. I tried to face it, it was fresh and warm, but suddenly realized, with an exciting shock, not at anything but the physical strangemess of it, that it was blowing on me from all directions at the same time. I raised my hand, I could feel it. The dark wind, like draught from thousands of invisible fans, blowing in on me. And again this seemed to last for a long time. 

....

pp 239-240

  But the fountain changed, the eddy whirled. It seemed at first to be a kind of reversion to the stage of the dark wind breathing in on me from every side, except that there was no wind, the wind had been only a metaphor, an now it was millions, trillions of such consciousnesses of being, countless nuclei of hope suspended in a vast solution of hazard, a pouring out not of photons, but noons, consciousness-of-being particles. An enormous and vertiginous sense of the innumerability of the universe; an innumerability in which transience and unchangingness seemed integral, essential and uncontradictory. I felt like a germ that had landed, like the first penicillin microbe, not only in a culture where it was totally at home, totally nourished; but in a situation in which it was infinitely significant. A condition of acute physical and intellectual pleasure, a floating suspension, a being perfectly adjusted and related; a quintessential arrival. An intercognition.