After Beuys I Love America and America Loves Me and Oleg Kulik's I Bite America and America Bites Me -- I won't stay in a room with a coyote for 5 days or in a cage as a dog for 2 weeks, but I will assume the persona of a rock & roll ANIMAL (grrr) for 5 days straight.

In lieu of my semi-annual 5-day solo camping trip, I'll travel to New York City with my guitar and amplifier, set up in the middle of a designated space (warehouse, loft, gallery, wherever), and perform rock/pop songs for 5 days straight. I'll print up rock hymnals and leave them lying around the space so that whoever drops by can sing along. "Turn in your hymnals to hymn 256 and join me in a rousing rendition of 'Suzy is a Headbanger.'" I'll have to sleep some and eat some, but people can watch me do those things too if they like.

I'm not from Germany or Russia, but I am from the American South, so it's almost the same thing. And I've only been to New York City once (for 5 days on a family vacation when I was 11).

Here's my Artist Statement:
playdamage.org/55.html

And some Promotional Media:
playdamage.org/at/

And some actual proof o' concept "rockin'":
what goes on
cinnamon girl
mona bone jakon
hungry wolf (get it? COYOTE... hungry WOLF?)

Those hoping to hear Casio versions of Kraftwerk songs need not attend. Come to think of it, no one need attend. That's what Christian worship, punk rock, and performance art all have in common. The monks at Iona preached to the seals, St. Francis preached to the birds, The Brian Jonestown Massacre played a 9-hour set to a roomful of 11 people, and Beuys showed a dead rabbit around an unpopulated gallery. Plus I've been known to play a 45-minute version of "Sister Ray," which is by THE Velvet Underground of ANDY WARHOL fame! Plus Beck's grandfather is fluxus artist Al Hansen, so what more provenance do you need? OK, you forced me to take off the glove.

In order for the concept to be accurately derivative, the space should be in New York City. Other allusively legitimate locales would be Berlin or Moscow, but then I'll have to change the title of the piece (and I'll have to forego the guilty pleasure of performing J.C. Mellencamp's perennial anthem, "R.O.C.K. in the U.S.A."). After those three cities, I'm open to a world tour (pending the wife's permission), but first things first.

If you or someone you know is interested in hosting this concept, contact me and we can work out the details.

in all conceptual earnestness,
curt