On October 15th the Historic Trolley Barn at The Heights in Tampa hosted Refractory, a monstrous collage of projected works and illuminated sculpture. Experimental Skeleton Inc. was responsible for constructing the largest dreamachine ever made, which spun all night in the space.
Refractory was designed to be a social experiment using techniques described by late artist Brion Gysin which incorporate collage/cut up, recording and playback and the dreamachine. There were four dreamachines total at the site ( 3 standard size stations and the larger machine). Cephia’s Treat’s artists performed live at the event and recorded for future playback and random recorders were placed through the space as well. The large dreamachine or How Did You Come to This (a rif on the Gysin phrase “Here to go”) was designed with moth shaped light portals. The moth shaped lights circle the source in reference to the navigational mechanisms of some moths that use the moon as their beacon but get confused by man made light sources.
Refractory was jointly created by Supertest, Hampton Arts Management, Kenneth Cowart, and Experimental Skeleton, Inc.
Artists that acted in an advisory capacity included James Johnson, Clem Crowder, Fafa, Robert Chambers, and Gean Moreno
Sound installation by Tetromino. Live performances by the artists of Cephia’s Treat-http://www.cephiastreat.com/
Featured artists included Negativland, Genesis P. Orridge, Cephia’s Treat, Richard Kern, Algis Kizys, Gerhardt Gruen, Aiden Dillard, Rob Constable, Kurt Piazza, Robb Fladry + Aaron Hutcheson, Brian Taylor, Kelly Benjamin and the Long Emergency, Noelle Mason and Ellen Mueller.
And a very special thanks again to James and Clem, without whom this project (Refractory) would never have been a possibility because we wouldn’t know any of this stuff.
Refractory photos by Kathleen Bridgette Nicholson.
