I.B.R.I. SECRET HQ
Release Of Smell From Inside The Bag
A poem returned of wax lips held firm against the rotting flash. A cavernous grin reflected in faded magazines and the brown water fountain. A poem to plaster the inside of your mouth with broken bits of glass and paper, a poem with hands like spent matches. I've no memory of these hands, they fly around the flies that vibrate on the glass. They strangle only pictures cracked and blistered (the hands or the pictures?). They cut blood fingers with swollen scissors. They sink into the sand again and again. The sound of sausages and smacking lips, the grenadier's passport is twitching in the moonlight. It is winking, I'm thinking. I collected up the scattered purse pills and candy coins. It became dark on the battlefield and tanklike beetles scuttled over the surface of her ruined flesh. I'm still holding her hand. I'm singing softly in the back seat, a burning wreck, a deck of cards, a glass of drink, a faint vibration. She looks through, or like, the shattered windscreen of a crashed automobile. She makes a sign. The grenadier is moving towards us, arms raised in a dancing fit. Somewhere in her eyes a wave is crashing.
Yesterday the bag arrived by post and I stood a rusted latch away from the deepest peril.
- W.A.Davison, March 24, 1999
I.B.R.I. SECRET HQ
Urban Refuse Group is back! On February 21st, U.R.G. made it's first public appearance of 1999, after an unprecedented hiatus of almost six months! The event was called "Toronto vs. Tokyo: Japanese Noise Invasion Part 1" and was built around the Toronto appearance of Japanese noise artists MSBR and Govt. Alpha, currently touring North America. The show was organized by Joda Clement and also included local Toronto noise projects Knurl and Two Assistant Deputy Ministers. Check out the MSBR website (http://msbr.com/) for some extremely grainy photos of U.R.G. and a favorable review from Koji Tano!
Speaking of the Urban Refuse Group, a kind of U.R.G. spin-off project (as yet unnamed) consisting of U.R.G. members W.A.Davison and Jim Bailey with jazz drummer Nick Fraser, tackled a set at the Idler Pub Improvisers Series on Dec. 12th and surprised everyone (including the performers!) with a heavy, improvised noise meets progressive jazz-rock fusion sound! Series organiser Ronda Rindoni has since said it was one of her favorite performances of last year's series. Hopes are that this project will appear again in '99 and perhaps lay down some tracks.
New work is emerging from the Dept. Of Recordist Objects, mostly in the form of sculptural assemblages by W.A. Davison. Two recent pieces entitled "Matter and Spirit" (a ceramic hand, used for store display, covered with mud) and "Above and Below" (an antique ironing board with attached wax covered eggs and tar covered lightbulbs) are examples of Davison's alchemical transformations of urban detritus mixed with a subtle humour and a concern for revealing the poetic truth of objects. Davison intends to have a solo show of these works before the close of 1999.
No new performance works from Songs of the New Erotics recently but some progress has been made on the CD project with several recording sessions at the Bureau's recording studio Surgical Transmissions. S.O.T.N.E. would like to remind its recording friends that audio contributions (to be used as raw material for sampling or other manipulations) are always welcome and contributors who end up on the CD (or other releases) will be credited as members of S.O.T.N.E. and will receive a copy of the release.
On Mar. 9th, I.B.R.I. and the Dept. Of Recordist Games began a weekly series of open meetings to "discuss Recordist strategies for the transformation of human life in the coming millenium". These informal gatherings are open to anyone who would like to participate and are an excellent opportunity for those interested in Recordism, Surrealism, and related topics to meet, converse, and of course, to play some Recordist/Surrealist games. If you are interested, the meetings take place most Tuesdays at 9:23 pm at The Future Bakery on Bloor St. (Bloor and Brunswick), in