Sage Francis
Self Fighteous
Joined: 30 Jun 2002
Posts: 19580
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| my full review of the London Art Gallery show. Pics included |
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A London Art Gallery Makes Sage Francis Break his Anti-UK Vow
When my band and I toured the UK last summer, we were greeted by two robberies (once while performing a free show), one of my tour mates sliced his head open on a hook hanging above the stage, and we had to run from the police after a physical altercation outside of a London venue. All of this, including a failed relationship with a shoddy UK record label, resulted in a silent pact I made with myself that I would not return for a long time.
However, during one of the UK shows I met with a woman named Sarah Coleman who presented me with a beautiful piece of artwork that contained some of my song lyrics. A year later this same person contacted me via email to let me know that she had secured a gallery in London where she would be displaying all of her artwork that is inspired by my music. She requested that I attend opening night on Oct 24, and offered to pay for my flight. After mulling this over for a couple days, my silent pact was broken. I agreed to do a spoken word performance on opening night and spent a couple weeks after that wondering what I was getting myself into.
Sarah had not shown me any of the work that she was planning to display, but I was honored and flattered to know that a visual artist had put so much effort into a project that was inspired by my songs. I imagined the gallery would consist of a few walls displaying drawings, paintings and maybe calligraphy of my song lyrics, but I was happy to discover otherwise. Sarah Coleman is much more of a creative force. Upon entering the slightly clandestine entrance to the Bricklane Gallery (it reminded me of what I imagine the secret door from Herman Hesse's "Steppen Wolf" would look like) I was surprised to find many of my lyrics were turned into actual items.
My words "if these walls could talk they wouldn't shut the fuck up" were printed onto actual wallpaper strips and placed against the wall behind the stage where I would be performing later in the evening. The design that these words were put into is gorgeous. I just stared at it and decided, "Holy shit, man. This is too cool. I need to have this wallpaper."
A delicate, four tier wedding cake had been made and placed in a glass
case. Each tier of the cake displayed a part of the phrase "forever only lasts four years," from my Road Tested album. I stared at it and thought, "Holy shit, man. This wouldn't be good to have at my wedding, but this is too cool. I need this at my wedding."
One of the funniest items was a cross stitch piece (you know...those things that grandmothers have hanging around that say "Welcome to our Home" or cutesy stuff like "Dance is if Nobody is Watching")...and it said "Make Love to the Present. Fuck the Past." Sarah had her elderly mother stitch this thing, which I would pay a LOT of money to have seen happen. I looked this cross stitch for a while and decided this needed to be hung on my door. Too cool.
My favorite work was of a bedroom set up in a corner of the gallery that was loaded with items that actualized my song imagery. The bed had a black comforter with "I've seen better days in my night terrors" printed in creepy text. A "woobie" with a silk edge (important) poked out from under the top of the comforter, while a black sweatshirt sat crumpled up at the edge of the bottom of the bed. The baby blue pillowcase looked very innocent with small images of teddy bears and dolls, but upon closer inspection you see that hey are mutilated and the small text says, "There are monsters under my bed again." The night table had a lamp and a bottle of cheap whiskey along with a cross stitch of my face with X'ed out eyes placed in a frame. "God dammit," I thought..."I want this."
There were many other items that I was completely taken by, and needless to say this whole set up was very surreal to me. The pictures say more than I can right now, so please check them at the end of this review. Sarah put so much care into the detail of this event and I really have to tip my hat to her. The event was free. Complimentary pamphlets of my lyrics were put together for people to read and take home. Free alcohol and vegan food was provided to the people. Sarah also hung hundreds of enveloped "sage suicide notes" on a clothing line for people to take home if they wanted more memorabilia. She painted "catch me red handed only if my palms are bleeding" in large letters high up in a corner of the room, while she and her helpers smudged red palm prints all over the gallery. This whole room had to be returned back to normal in only 4 days.
When I left the gallery to go rehearse my set (which I decided to switch around due to content and mood of the gallery), I returned to a room of 300 people swarming around while a DJ spun records up in a balcony area. Getting from the entrance to the DJ booth took about an hour with all the handshakes, smiles, hugs and the signing of random objects. It was then time for me to hit the stage. Sarah Coleman, full of excitement and nervous energy, got up on the platform and thanked everyone for coming. People were buzzing. We were buzzing. Everything was a-buzz. When Sarah introduced me to the crowd, I stood on the chair as the frantic cheers fell to complete silence. Pin drop material. At first I was worried how 300 people were going to be able to hear me without a microphone, but now I understood. These people were here to listen. Aye.
I performed a 40 minute long acapella set that spanned material from Personal Journals all the way through to my upcoming album, Human the Death Dance. With the crowd as attentive as they were, I found myself focusing a bit too much on the words and their meaning, which tripped me up a bit. It didn't matter though. The energy was thick and I felt like I was almost walking on it at certain points. When my set finished, I stepped off the chair and off of the platform and into the arms of the people who I'm glad I came to visit again. It was a beautiful night, and I feel highly privileged to have experienced something like this. Thank you to everyone who attended, everyone who helped out, and the people I was fortunate enough to share my time with while in London. Most of all, thank you to Sarah Coleman. You outdid yourself. If you gave me all the pieces that I wanted then you'd be left with nothing to showcase. And I would also look like a complete narcissist. The wallpaper though....that could be cool. Aye! Thank you again!!!
Much Love,
Sage Francis
Sarah Coleman's website is: www.inkymole.com
The website for the art exhibit is: http://www.writeofftheworld.net
Also, Sarah designs some Personal Journals-themed notebooks that are half sketch paper and half writing paper that we will make available on www.strangefamousrecords.com very soon.
Enjoy the rest of the pictures from Oct 24 at the Bricklane Gallery in London, Eng:
Last edited by Sage Francis on Tue Nov 14, 2006 7:59 pm; edited 2 times in total |
Sun Oct 29, 2006 1:06 am |
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Lants
Joined: 07 Aug 2006
Posts: 2033
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wow her artwork is crazy
i love it |
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Sun Oct 29, 2006 1:19 am |
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Mikal kHill
Joined: 29 Jun 2002
Posts: 6277
Location: eleventh circle, nc |
She needs to be in charge of developing the set for your next music video. Hell maybe the stage layout for your live act.
-kHill |
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Sun Oct 29, 2006 1:26 am |
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MetemorphosisofNarcissus
kinda funny but not
Joined: 13 Dec 2005
Posts: 790
Location: Ottawa |
Sarah is truely gifted. This looks like such a great achievement.
I really hope she decides to make some posters of her work. I would Love a "if these walls could talk" poster so much. or even one of the musical note girl in the picture further down.
This is absolutely wonderful. |
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Sun Oct 29, 2006 1:41 am |
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Dream Inspired
Joined: 09 Jun 2006
Posts: 2008
Location: genoa |
wow, man
wow.
really........
wow.
what khill said. definitely.
wow. |
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Sun Oct 29, 2006 2:19 am |
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Dream Inspired
Joined: 09 Jun 2006
Posts: 2008
Location: genoa |
that bedroom is
INSANE.
a woobie's a baby blanket isn't it?
aaahahahaaa.
insane. |
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Sun Oct 29, 2006 2:23 am |
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ted_kennedy
Joined: 17 Feb 2006
Posts: 990
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That was a good read. Her artwork is beautiful.
Looks like there were a lot of people there. It ain't easy to fill an art gallery like that. Sage must be gaining popularity in the UK. |
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Sun Oct 29, 2006 3:50 am |
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DM
Joined: 05 Jul 2002
Posts: 6374
Location: www.NERDTORIOUS.com |
Wow. It must be flattering, and awesome, to know that your art inspired other art that's actually cool.
Sounds like a very refreshing experience man. |
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Sun Oct 29, 2006 5:16 am |
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hank
Joined: 27 Jul 2006
Posts: 690
Location: shitcreek |
is the exhibition going to travel? |
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Sun Oct 29, 2006 6:15 am |
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hannaford
Joined: 18 May 2006
Posts: 614
Location: Australia |
That shit is off the hook. Awesome. You must be so flattered Sage.
I'd be curious as to the reactions of those people who were not familiar with your work prior to veiwing the pieces on show. Something tells me you'll be shipping alot of merchandise to the UK very soon. |
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Sun Oct 29, 2006 6:27 am |
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Majawala
Joined: 14 Oct 2005
Posts: 1735
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anyone know if the quicktime of the show is up yet? and if so, wheres it at? |
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Sun Oct 29, 2006 6:49 am |
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inkymole
Joined: 10 Oct 2006
Posts: 39
Location: UK |
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Sage has written an eloquent and very warm review of an event that's still a bit of a blur to me, and as I sit here at the gallery (the show's been extended for another day) the room is literally crammed - I'm not kidding. I made myself a cup of tea an hour ago and it's stone cold!
What's interesting is that people of all ages, gender and background seem to be really taking their time to listen and get into Sage's words and study the art that goes with it. I've continued to sell his CDs and DVDs as a result, and I'm like a stuck record repeating the same info about who he is, who I am, where he performs, why we do what we do and so on - however it's info I'm happy to give over and over again, in fact I've just sold another 'Healthy Distrust' to a middle aged couple of French ladies who wouldn't stop raving about it!
I really wasn't sure whether the general public would get much out of this show - since I'm used to working with clients who give me a brief, and this was a very personal project. I did it for me, for Sage and later on for fans to check out too - but I've seen the opposite reaction from what I expected. People want to know more. They're really listening and looking and asking.
I was totally gobsmacked that Sage agreed to come over (since I knew about the horrors of his last trip already, as we'd followed the British tour dates last year) and his presence did indeed turn the private view into something else entirely.
So to answer a few Qs, yes I hope to take the show elsewhere - I am thinking at this stage the US makes sense - and keep adding to the pieces. After all there's new material on its way!
Also the video footage will be online as soon as I can get home, as I've been staying in London for the week and found it difficult to get anything done due to the volume of visitors, and I get my Mac taken off me and locked away after 5pm! (definitely time to stump up for that lap top...)
Finally I'll be adding merch for sale on both writeofftheworld.net and inkymole.com, along with the much-requested wallpaper. It's not cheap to print so be warned - it works out at about £40 a strip (I make about a fiver of that, honestly!) plus P+P, but they're over 5ft tall and make great hangings. I will be supplying it with the relevant hanging devices/hooks.
That's it for now!
Remember if anyone has good pics please send them in to me so I can get busy on the webstravaganza tomorrow.
Mole xx |
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Sun Oct 29, 2006 7:20 am |
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inkymole
Joined: 10 Oct 2006
Posts: 39
Location: UK |
P.S. Time to go soon ... I'm starting to miss my own woobie who I left at home. He's a little bit older than the one on show ... |
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Sun Oct 29, 2006 7:23 am |
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T-Wrex
p00ny tang
Joined: 30 Jun 2002
Posts: 5036
Location: Detroit, Michigan |
I adore that wedding cake.
What medium is it? Fondant on styrofoam? |
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Sun Oct 29, 2006 8:59 am |
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Fallujah
Joined: 26 Nov 2005
Posts: 1147
Location: Narnia |
That woman is amazing.
All of her work is amazing.
Thanks for sharing this with us Sage, it's truely remarkable. |
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Sun Oct 29, 2006 9:18 am |
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