Event: David Blandy's "ODYSSEYS" (September 1 - 23 2012, Brighton, UK)
David Blandy "ODYSSEYS" solo show
Lighthouse, 1-23 September 2012, Brighton Digital Festival 2012
Private View: 6-8pm Friday 31st August
Phoenix Brighton, 10–14 Waterloo Place, Brighton, BN2 9NB
From the press release:
"David Blandy's new exhibition, Odysseys is a visual mash-up of arcade games, film projections, life-sized cut-out figures, comics, lego models, tatame mats and an 11-hour deadly gaming tournament in which the public are invited to compete.
Blandy's deep interest in Japanese culture lies at the core of the show with Anjin 1600 (2012), a new Manga-derived futuristic space odyssey inspired by William Adams, the first Englishman to reach Japan in 1600, and the only westerner to become a Samurai; and Child of the Atom (2010) is an installation and part documentary, part anime meditation following Blandy and his daughter on a trip to Hiroshima, driven by his belief that he owes his existence to the epic atom bomb tragedy.
Odysseys also brings together some of Blandy's custom-decorated cabs for the first time, adapted to play his specially-made games including Duels and Dualities: Battle of the Soul that pits a series of the artist's alter-egos against each other; The Black and White Minstrel Show Rhythm Action Game involving the playing of a guitar hooked up to an arcade machine, and The Fight Lab's transformation of the gallery into a gaming tournament space on 22 September. Other cabs are used as viewing vehicles for Blandy's earlier musically framed works such as from the underground and Soul of the Lakes.
Newly commissioned for the show is Battle of the Soul: Rhythm Action Game, which invites the audience to act as a virtual guitar player on songs that have been integral to Blandy’s practice. Contenders are asked if they have enough soul to complete Syl Johnson’s classic, Is it because I’m Black?" (Lighthouse)
A must see.
One of Blandy's most intriguing projects is "Duels and Dualities" (2011) which combines modding, fan culture, digital printing, comics, and scultpure. It's a project that keeps evolving and iterating. This is how the artist describes his artwork:
"The game is based on the alter-egos that Blandy has generated for his previous work, slugging it out in a traditional 2D fighting arena. So far the Barefoot Lone Pilgrim, Orochi Pilgrim, the White and Black Minstrel, the all-powerful Child of the Atom and David Blandy himself have all been rendered as 2D sprite characters complete with special and super moves (except Blandy himself, who only has light and hard punch)"(Blandy)
A previous iteration, titled "Artprojx Dojo", focuses on the battle motif while appropriating and recontextualizing several popular culture artifacts - e.g. "Kung fu and Chanbara flicks, hardcore fighting arcade games, comics".
Blandy's latest project is titled "Abjin 1600: Episode 1", "which he described as
"an anime-styled animation that reimagines William Adam's journey to, and his time in, Japan as an epic space adventure. Fusing 16th century history, Homer's Odyssey and anime plot devices, Anjin 1600 results in a complex meditation on cultural tourism and identity." (Blandy)LINK
Submitted by Matteo Bittanti (Thanks to Mathias Jansson)