Bandwagon

“Staking a Claim” in the Invisible Empire: Undefined Spaces

gravityofpower — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 14:43:08 +0000

It seemed inevitable when going into the “Undefined Spaces” of the Van abbemuseum that some type of territorialism would occur. This seemed more imminent as the exhibition drew nearer and a back and forth dialogue began about the availability of lodging for the artists involved. Ultimately Bandwagon was informed they would be sleeping IN the gallery during the course of the exhibition in a slumber party type fashion (air mattresses would be provided).

It was immediately clear that a base camp of sorts would need to be constructed to both stake our claim in the “Invisible Empire” and create a physical space to support the virtual web of our project. For this reason Bandwagon came prepared with the necessary materials to construct a shelter and fly our colors within whatever environment we found ourselves in. As is often the case when one begins to define boundaries, others in your vicinity tend to do the same. Thus was the case with Brian Balderston, the other artist Bandwagon was sharing the room with as sleeping accommodations. Of course this was good-natured territorialism and not meant to ruffle anyone’s feathers…and so it was that from this sparring the first of many collab orations began within the exhibition. As the Bandwagon structure took shape, Brian responded by building a great tower on the opposite end of the room out of some pre-fabbed wood left behind from some previous event.

Yasmeen Al-Awadi arrived during the middle of all this brainstorming and decided to add a “no-man’s land” using some tape and the floor.

Late in the night Brian decided the installation was the perfect set for a video he was thinking about….and so it was:

In the end, an unintentional installation was built that everyone in the show was able to participate on or take inspiration from in some form or another. The crowning point came during an impromptu reception held in the space mid-way through the exhibition. With the help of a pirated sign created by Yasmeen and meant to resemble the same sign used to denote installation locations for the Glow Festival happening concurrently with our exhibition,

we were able to attract several un-assuming guests into our event.

While DJ Luis Ibarra spun records live from El Salvador, the audience enjoyed Brian and Bandwagon’s (mostly Brian’s) undefined soup,

Dutch and Belgian beer,

and a few games of Sentinel Soccer.

Perhaps, in the end, this installation embodied one of curator Jean-Michel Crapanzano’s ideas about Invisible Empire:Undefined Spaces; a vehicle for the “invisible part of the artist’s practice, the preliminary conceptual phases and in particular the moment of creation.”

Artists: Jean-Michel Crapanzano (France / Netherlands), Yasmeen Al Awadi (London), Brian Balderston (New York), Julia Boix-Vives (France / Netherlands), Rose Lejeune (Curator, London), Karin van Pinxteren (Netherlands), Rachel Wilberforce (London), Chad Stayrook – Jose Ruiz / Bandwagon team (New York)

Balloon Boys/Artist Statements

gravityofpower — Sun, 22 Nov 2009 00:14:52 +0000

Sweet Rhetoric

gravityofpower — Sun, 22 Nov 2009 00:13:04 +0000

1000 miles of ephemera…

gravityofpower — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 04:16:33 +0000

In 8 days time Bandwagon thoroughly explored, researched, and documented the Invisible Empire: Undefinded Spaces. The following represents a collection of the in-betweens found and digitally preserved:

today (11/11/09): BANDWAGON airs live from a radio show in Mexico, DJs with a sound artist in El Salvador, and parties in the Netherlands simultaneously!

gravityofpower — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 07:24:50 +0000

Bandwagon will co-host, perform, and interpret the various connotations of “invisible empire: undefined spaces” in synch across all time zones with an arsenal of audio, video, and translational conversations: music, interviews, political debates, scenic backdrops, bloopers, feedback and extra doses of pixels.

From 9:30am-11:30am (US-EST), 3:30pm-5:30pm (Netherlands) Bandwagon will collaborate with Diego Aguirre of Radioglobal (Mexico’s baddest underground indie station) and co-host a special radio program originating in Mexico, landing in NY, and ultimately nosediving in the Netherlands for a special live screening/broadcast inside the vanabbe museum.

The radio show will air live across the internet (www.radioglobal.org) and on BW’s Ustream channel (http://www.ustream.tv/channel/the-bandwagon-show), and will be available for downloading shortly after (links to come).

From 12pm-2pm (US-EST); 6pm-8pm (Netherlands), Bandwagon will co-produce an impromptu art opening inside an empty space in the museum along with fellow participating artists Brian Balderston, Yasmeen Al Awadi, Karin Van Pixteren and others with unorthodox supervision by curators Jean-Michel Crapanzano & Freek Lomme. The party will be broadcast on Ustream and will unveil ephemeral installations created by the artists over the last week.

As a special project, Bandwagon will stream in “The Art of Digging” a project by the Salvadoran-based sound artist and DJ Luis Ibarra who also serves as the Director of Resident_es, an artist residency program in San Salvador, El Salvador. DJ Ibarra will present his latest sounds live from an undisclosed beach bar in El Salvador and will be ready to mingle with his Dutch counterparts.

To tune in:

www.radioglobal.org

http://www.ustream.tv/channel/the-bandwagon-show (audio broadcast with sub-audio)

To follow any last minute changes in programming:

http://twitter.com/bandwagonart

To learn more about the project, Invisible Empire: Undefined Spaces:

http://www.vanabbemuseum.nl/en/network-and-debate/your-space/

follow us on ustream starting tomorrow at 8am or so EST

gravityofpower — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 02:10:46 +0000

www.ustream.tv/channel/the-bandwagon-show

Camera 1

gravityofpower — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 11:11:55 +0000

Blurry is better…

It’s time to get on the Bandwagon…

gravityofpower — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 04:18:22 +0000

You’ve been on it before: immersed in video amongst the sounds of Japanther in Philly, part of an impromptu awards ceremony at an art biennial in South Korea, sipping cocktails and eating hot dogs at a tailgate underneath the BQE. Maybe you’ve fallen off a couple times, maybe you never got off after the first round, and maybe you’ve never been on at all. Whatever the case, throw aside your ideals, let go of your ego, embrace your need to fit in, and get on the Bandwagon now cause we’re going to the Netherlands! From November 8th to November 12th Bandwagon will blog to you from the fringes of dutchland as part of the exhibition Invisible Empire: Undefined Spaces. This time we’ve made it even easier to tag along. There’s no need to come out in the cold or rain; you don’t even need to get out of your PJ’s. You’re in the action whenever you are at your computer and logged into bwagon.wordpress.com ! Be sure to check in to this blog often over the next week as we’ll constantly be updating with new material. Nothing is safe from this Bandwagon piece…travel ephemera, video art, blanket forts, foreign languages, art symposiums…you name it. We’re even hosting a live 24/7 streaming web video from Nov. 8th(ish) to Nov. 11th(ish) on our USTREAM site @ http://www.ustream.tv/channel/the-bandwagon-show and on this blog via the link to your right. Watch for updates on facebook, follow us on twitter (@bandwagonart). This is Bandwagon: Totally Loaded.

important links:

http://bwagon.wordpress.com
http://twitter.com/bandwagonart
http://www.ustream.tv/channel/the-bandwagon-show
http://www.facebook.com/chad.stayrook
http://www.facebook.com/home.php#/pages/Bandwagon/168877947238?v=wall&ref=nf

information about Invisible Empire: Undefined Spaces:

http://www.vanabbemuseum.nl/en/network-and-debate/your-space/your-spacenl/

Bandwagon requests your support…

gravityofpower — Sun, 01 Nov 2009 22:06:15 +0000

Bandwagon writes to you now to graciously ask your support for an upcoming project we are creating in Eindhoven Netherlands. First things first, we are trying to raise funds via:

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/bandwagon/bandwagon-artist-collaboration-seeks-exhibition-fu

Bandwagon is an artist collective from New York anchored by conceptual installation artists and curators Jose Ruiz & Chad Stayrook. Bandwagon confronts interactivity and engagement through projects that consume the viewer while making them the protagonist. Beneath the Kool-Aid, each project inherits the universal issues that arise and separate contemporary society.

From November 7th to November 12th artist collective Bandwagon (Chad Stayrook and Jose Ruiz) will participate in the group exhibition: Invisible Empire: Undefined Spaces at the Van Abbemuseum of Contemporary Art. During this collection of collaborative art installations and artists panels, Bandwagon will present a unique live blog experience documenting nearly all aspects of the event and exhibiting them in real time all across the world via http://bwagon.wordpress.com/ and other media-centric web portals (ustream, skype, facebook).

The beauty of this project is that it requires very little monetary resources and most aspects are covered by the museum (room and board, etc). Unfortunately certain funding, such as transportation to the Netherlands, was scrapped from the budget. By supporting this project you will ensure the artists have the means to get to Eindhoven, thereby directly contributing to the completion of this project. We are trying to collect only $700.00 to secure a flight to Amsterdam and cover any administration fees from Amazon.com or Kickstarter.com for this service. But why stop there!?! Any extra money we receive will be put towards future Bandwagon projects assuring the continuation of, what we believe, is an exciting and important new artistic endeavor.

Supporting this project is easy. Simply visit:

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/bandwagon/bandwagon-artist-collaboration-seeks-exhibition-fu

and pledge any amount of money via the “back this project” link. Even 1.00 helps us realize our goal! If you cannot support us with a donation you can still help! Forward this email to anyone you think would like to support this project and make it a reality.

Please do not hesitate to contact us for more information regarding this project and the overall exhibition Invisible Empire: Undefined Spaces.

Thank you for your support!

Bandwagon
Chad Stayrook: cstayrook@gmail.com
Jose Ruiz: theartjar@hotmail.com