Earth Tones, 2009

Solo Exhibition, L2kontemporary Gallery, Los Angeles, CA

Recent travels to Azerbaijan, the exotic crossroads of the Caucasus Mountains and the Caspian Sea, provided inspiration for this exhibition. I have continued to explore elements of Eurasian cultural symbology, investigating and reinterpreting them in a series of sculptural works.\

The following are 3 videos about aspects of the Gaval Dashy:

Earth Tones. This video was conceived as part of the Earth Tones exhibition as it traces the history of my musical instrument, "The California Gaval Dashy." It begins with a 1983 recording of Cingiz Mehdiyev, the renowned Azerbaijani percussionist, playing the famous Gaval Dashy (Tambourine Stone) in Qobustan, Azerbaijan. I recorded a short video on September 29, 2008 of Qobustan tour guide, Farhat Khanatov, playing a smaller version of the Gaval Dashy. The final segment documents a portion of the recording session on "The California Gaval Dashy," by The Antenna Repairmen, Robert Fernandez, M.B. Gordy and Arthur Jarvinen, at todosomething Studio, Highland Park, California, on April 17, 2009. The soundtrack from The Antenna Repairmen’s improvisational session was playing during the installation of the Earth Tones exhibition.

Improvisational performance. The Antenna Repairmen’s Robert Fernandez and M.B. Gordy, at the opening reception of Earth Tones, L2Kontemporary Gallery, Los Angeles, CA. June 27, 2009.

The Antenna Repairmen. A multi-media percussion performance University of Southern California Visions and Voices, Thursday, November 5, 2009 at the Gayle and Ed Roski Master of Fine Arts Gallery. Paper, Rock, Scissors was conceived especially for this event, an improvisational percussion session played on "The California Gaval Dashy."

A University of Southern California Advancing Scholarship in the Humanities and Social Sciences grant made research for this exhibition possible.

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