Gargoyle Mechanique
Gargoyle Mechanique was originally the name of a group of collaborating art inventors including Steve Jones, Doug "Bert' Kennedy, Matt Crowe, David Landazuri and brother Roberto Landazuri in San Francisco in the late 1970s, and later to be the name of an inter-media art space and theater, music, radio, sculpture, art and film collective serially located at various basements and storefronts in New York City's East Village through the 80's into the 1990s.[1]
 | |
| Founded | 198? |
|---|---|
| Type | Performing arts collective |
| Focus | Performance and visual arts |
| Location |
|
| Origins | Lower East Side, New York, New York |
Area served | New York, New York |
History
The name Gargoyle Mechanique was partly inspired by a museum of antique mechanical toys and contraptions on the pacific coast of San Francisco named Le Musee Mecanique. The name Gargoyle Mechanique was devised in 1978 by the team in San Francisco, originally for the purpose of sending a set of gifts to another local San Franciscan arts group, Ralph Records and The Residents, and the group felt they needed an identifying moniker to do so. The initial San Francisco collective, located in an old Victorian-era house at the intersection of 14th Street and Eureka, a few blocks from Castro and Market, included sculptor/poet/illustrator Douglas Bert Kennedy, electronic music composer Matthew Myrle Crowe, experimental musician Steve Jones Daughs, poet musician David Davo Landazuri. In various collaboration with others and themselves, the group made music, sculpture and writings all at once.
1980-1988
The Gargoyle Mechanique Laboratory was located initially at Second Ave and 4th St. where Steve Jones had moved after leaving San Francisco, but by 1982 had established itself at 69 First Ave in the East Village and was known locally as "The Basement". Among the creative activities produced during this early fertile period was the Studio Verite Recording studio , the kabuki rock n roll band Door of Wigs, which played venues of the period such as the Mudd Club, CBGB's, and The Gas Station. Production of Super 8 films/performances, such as Camptown Races[2] and radio plays such as House of Dogs, which was excerpted on the Telus[3] audio cassette magazine #11 "The Sound of Radio" and was performed live with food music projections and actors at East Village club 8BC in 1984.
This same year Liotta and Jones gave birth to daughter Chloe Liotta-Jones. Her 3rd birthday party at Gargoyle Mechanique's backyard alley was captured in Super8 sound by Markovich and is preserved for posterity on The Center for Home Movies (Living Room Cinema).[4] Markovich also wrote the play CAKE, a cosmic comedy starring Waldorf, Liotta, and Ed Snyder with slide projections by Liotta and original tape score by Jones, and was performed at the New York Theatre Asylum on E. 9th st run by Raquel Shapira and Tri Garrity. Gargoyle Mechanique had a retrospective of this period of music,film, performance, and projected photoglyphs "from the beautiful to the backwards" at the Collective for Living Cinema on White St in NYC in 1987.
1989-93
From 1989-1993, in NYC, the Gargoyle Mechanique Laboratory was located at 28 Ave B. The thriving art space brought together, and was run by a group of artists, filmmakers and musicians, including Tim Sweet, Loyan Beausoleil, Beth Grim, Kit Krash, Sheila Smyth, Fly, Zero Boy, and Bulk Foodveyor, though led by Steve Jones (now Jones Daughs).
The September 16, 1992, New York Press 'Best of' issue, named The Gargoyle Mechanique as the "Best 70's Performance Gallery".
Steve Jones closed the Laboratory space in 1998.[5]
See also
References
- Beck, Garrick (7 September 2017). True Stories: Tales from the Generation of a New World Culture. ISBN 9781532026027. Retrieved 11 November 2020.
- "Camptown Racetrack". YouTube. 2009-06-18. Retrieved 2013-09-22.
- "UbuWeb Sound :: Tellus". Ubu.com. Retrieved 2013-09-22.
- "Living Room Cinema". Homemovieday.com. Archived from the original on 2013-09-25. Retrieved 2013-09-22.
- Moynihan, Colin (12 October 2003). "East Village Journal; Baying at the Moon . . . Reverently". The New York Times. Retrieved 11 November 2020.
Further reading
- The New York Press September 16–22, 1992, p. 106
- Nights of the Living Dead Village Voice By Harold Goldberg, October 30 - November 6, 1990
- Brochure "The Gargoyle Mechanique Laboratory: Even if You Turn" Published by Gargoyle Mechanique Laboratory, 1992 edition