Drawing music :: The Necks show @ Issue Project Room

I made these iPhone drawings at The Necks concert tonight. The music blew me away-it was truly a physical experience. The Necks, an Australian trio that plays for a few decades now, improvises each show, and no two concerts are alike. Ever. The pianist, the up-right bassist and the drummer are like three shamans, who create an auditory whirl-wind. Each piece is no less than half-hour long. It starts off with barely audible fragments of sounds, that build up in most unpredictable ways, probably even for the musicians. The first set tonight was full of color and unusual harmonies. The second set was dark, loud and heavy. A cacophony of sounds and rhythm was so intense that it became nothing but visceral. I don't know how you would classify this music. It's as abstract as music gets, but it also is most concrete and crystallized. It's like emotions-you can't classify or name them, but you yourself know how definite they are because you FEEL them. Contrasts of sounds I experienced tonight were emotions put to music.

You can watch a video of their performance here:
http://issueprojectroom.org/2009/12/02/necks/

The First Set: veiw from the back of the room


The Second Set: pianist and bassist


The Second Set: CACOPHONY


The Second Set: calm after the storm


Drawn on my iPhone

The Q train tribesman

Drawn on my iPhone

Good day, sunshine

Drawn on my iPhone

In-between

Drawn on my iPhone

Health nut

Drawn on my iPhone

Regenerate

Drawn on my iPhone

Shanty time!

On a freezing-cold January day at Mystic, my friends and I attended a very heart-warming event: a sea shanty sing-a-long festival. Sea shanties were sailors' work songs with solo verses and chorus. Shanties told stories of love, romance, long voyages, whale hunting, stormy seas, longing for home...The room where the festival took place reverberated with enthusiasm and rowdy excitement; different voices would lead new songs and the crowd would join in on the chorus, swaying to the rhythm. Jokes, plenty of laughter and genuine love for these songs filled the air. There were lots of long beards all around. I really enjoyed being there, with my friends, drawing. It was packed and hot inside, contrasting with the crisp quietness of that freezing-cold January day at Mystic. Here are some drawings from that day.
*not iPhone art

Can you see frozen ink on paper?




the Beard


All the instruments...


...and a flute


All together now!




Charlie Ipcar

Family matter

Drawn on my iPhone

Introspection

Drawn on my iPhone

Thinking of you...

Drawn on my iPhone

Subway epiphany

Drawn on my iPhone

It's a puzzle!

Drawn on my iPhone

Digital is fun and all....

...but nothing compares to REAL drawing. Here are some studies of a model I did today, not on an iPhone, but on paper, with palpable, delightfully messy materials. It's funny how after playing with pastels, charcoal, crayons, ink and paint for a day, picking up an iPhone to make a drawing seems crazy all of a sudden; insufficient to fully describe...Of course, you can't always whip out a large pad with watercolors on the subway, so the Brushes app is still a great tool. But later, later...

resolutions

Drawn on my iPhone

Happy New 2010 Year!

Drawn on my iPhone