A fuss over cross-over

Charles Avery Charles Avery Charles Avery is mainly what I’ve been saying, art-wise this month. As is probably quite evident from the fevered review we publish this month. Put simply, I loved it in a way that almost never happens in visual art. I am in awe.

In other news, I’ve been wondering about the line at which art and music meet, because there seems to be an increasing crossover between the two and I like what I’m seeing/hearing. I suppose it’s always been there, in all the folk who go to art school to form bands, and in all the animators who just want to make music videos. I think it feels different now because it’s less commercially driven: as the record contracts and accompanying ludicrous advances dry up, musicians are concentrating more on the grassroots level, on gigging and low budget visuals, frequently supplied by your friendly neighbourhood video artist. There have been a few nights recently (which shall here remain nameless to discourage the opportunists), where live bands and DJs have played alongside artworks of video or sculpture or whatever, and I think the collaboration helps to create something altogether new. It removes art from its at times rarified surrounds, it exposes it to a whole new audience, and it changes its meaning a little bit because it is no longer in a 'contextless' white cube: it is suddenly part of the entertainment, which means it will be viewed in an entirely different, more emotional way. And the music gets a free video. Long live artistic crossover.