The Rift of the Pandimensional Under-Gods: Angaron Meets Colossus 2008
In the clash of multiple worlds, Kinsley and Rubin imagine the apocalyptic intersection of fantasy and reality, bringing the viewer into the fold.
Description
Here Kinsley and Rubin collaborate on a two-part project involving a live performance (and filming) of a medieval battle reenactment society fighting to the music of a fantasy metal band emerging from a trailer on the street outside the museum. In the clash of multiple worlds, Kinsley and Rubin imagine the apocalyptic intersection of fantasy and reality, bringing the viewer into the fold. Opening night featured a series of loud, raucous, and hilariously engaging performances that were filmed and will subsequently be edited into a music video, to be sold in the Mattress Factory store.
Curated by Heather Pesanti
A graduate student in the MFA program at Carnegie Mellon University, Ben Kinsley (American, b. 1982) is a performance and video artist who frequently, in his own words, plays “himself, and others, like musical instruments,” corralling unsuspecting community members in theatrical and often wildly humorous events. Often documentation or evidence from these works becomes a separate entity.
Jon Rubin (American, b. 1963) is an interdisciplinary artist who creates interventions into public life that re-imagine individual, group and institutional behavior. His projects include starting a radio station in an abandoned neighborhood that only plays the sound of an extinct bird and operating a restaurant that produces a live video talk show with its customers. He has exhibited at galleries around the world, including The Guggenheim Museum, The San Francisco Museum of Modern Art; The Mercosul Biennial, Brazil; The Shanghai Biennial; Anyang Public Art Project, Korea; The Parkingallery, Tehran, Iran; as well as in backyards, living rooms, and street corners. Rubin is a recipient of the Creative Capital Award and a recent finalist for the International Award for Participatory Art. He is an Associate Professor and Graduate Director in the School of Art Carnegie Mellon University.