The New New Thing
On NJN’s State of the Arts
Friday, November 10 at 8:30 pm; and Wednesday, November 15 at 11:30 pm

STATEWIDE – In the art world, the search is always on for “the new new thing.” In 1924, composer George Antheil’s “Ballet Mécanique” created an uproar in Paris. In 1933, RCA began production of a sci-fi instrument called the theremin. In 1957, artists in New Brunswick created the first “happenings.” In 1992, the Internet was the new medium for artists. And today, e-mails and Game Boys are the stuff of art and music. State of the Arts takes a look at a century of art on the cutting edge in this encore presentation of The New New Thing, which airs on Friday, November 10 at 8:30 pm, with a rebroadcast on Wednesday, November 15 at 11:30 pm.

• The Bad Boy Of Music
Born in Trenton, NJ, in 1900, George Antheil was a musical genius, concert pianist, and avant-garde composer. In the teens and twenties he was the new new thing in classical music, famous for his mechanically inspired works: the “Airplane Sonata,” the “Ballet Mécanique,” and the “Death of Machines.” Antheil lived in Paris where he was embraced by the moderns, Ezra Pound, Gertrude Stein, James Joyes, and Erik Satie. His colorful autobiography is called "Bad Boy of Music." Performances by the Composers Guild of New Jersey are featured.

• Music From The Ether
Imagine a musical instrument that you play without touching –– that was the sales pitch for the theremin, an eerie sounding device invented by a Soviet musician/scientist (who went on to create secret listening devices for the KGB). It was the new new thing, and many people — including RCA, which built 500 of the contraptions back in the 1930s — thought it would be the next big thing. The theremin never really took off except as an oddity — you hear it in old sci-fi movie soundtracks — in part because it's almost impossible to play well. But there are still a few theremin aficionados out there — among them, Scott Marshall of East Windsor, who built his own theremin, taught himself to play it, and is a passionate student of its history. On this edition of State of the Arts, Marshall gives us a theremin demonstration and walks us through the strange world of "Music from the Ether."

• The Rutgers Avant-Garde
Rutgers University was a hotbed of the avant garde during the years 1957-1963, with some of the first “happenings” taking place. State of the Arts takes a look at the time through rare archival film and interviews with the now famous artists who participated, including George Segal, Allan Kaprow, and Lucas Samaras.

• Internet Art
The beginnings of computer and web-based art can be traced to early experiments at Bell Labs in Murray Hill, NJ. State of the Arts explores the conditions that allowed the new art form of the 1990s to flourish in a science lab, and talks to artists who use the Internet as their medium.

• The Tank
From performances that explore the Nintendo Game Boy as a musical instrument to presenting holiday shows like “A Very Merry Unauthorized Children's Scientology Pageant,” The Tank, a space for performing and visual arts in Manhattan, has provided up-and-coming artists and very experimental art forms with a new home. Co-founded by New Jersey natives Justin Krebs and Daniel Greenfeld — along with a small community of creative twenty-somethings — The Tank is dedicated to "new work by emerging performers, designers, writers, directors and producers," as well as keeping ticket prices under ten dollars. One artist who's been performing at The T since its kick-off show is Bit Shifter (aka Josh Davis), whose stage performance consists of a drum machine, two Nintendo Game Boys and a laptop. State of the Artanks visits Bit Shifter at his home in Astoria, Queens to explore this new musical trend.

State of the Arts, the award-winning, half-hour arts magazine, airs every Friday at 8:30 pm, followed by an encore presentation each Wednesday at 11:30 pm.

The current episode of State of the Arts can be viewed online at www.njn.net. Individual stories will be available to view following their broadcast by visiting the program online at State of the Arts. Funding for State of the Arts is provided by the New Jersey State Council on the Arts and the Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation. The series producer is Susan Wallner and the executive producer is Nila Aronow.