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In the art world, the search is always on for "the new new thing." In 1924, composer George Antheil's Ballet Mécanique created 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 1993, the internet was the new medium for artists. Now, in the 21st century, e-mails and game boys are the stuff of art and music. From today's New York gallery scene to Paris in the 1920s, State of the Arts takes a look at 100 years of art on the cutting edge.
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Wednesday, December 5, 2007 @ 11:30 pm
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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 Mecanique," and the "Death of Machines." Antheil lived in Paris where he was embraced by the moderns, Ezra Pound, Gertrude Stein, James Joyce, and Erik Satie. He later moved to Hollywood and wrote dozens of film scores. His colorful autobiography is called "Bad Boy of Music." State of the Arts producer Eric Schultz meets current day interpreter of Antheil’s work, Guy Livingston, as he explores the continuing influence of the innovative composer on today’s music. 
hear antheil's complete "jazz sonata" performed by guy livingston.
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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, NJ, who built his own theremin, taught himself to play it, and is a passionate student of its history. Marshall gives a theremin demonstration and walks us through the strange world of "music from the ether."
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happenings
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 producer Amber Edwards takes a look at the time through rare archival film and interviews with the now famous artists who participated, including George Segal, Allan Kaprow, Robert Whitman and Lucas Samaras.
see a 1956 home movie of a happening.
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net art
The beginnings of computer and web-based art can be traced to early experiments at Bell Labs in Murray Hill, New Jersey. 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.
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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 a home for up-and-coming artists and very experimental art forms. 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 between "free" and ten dollars. One artist who's been performing at the tank since its kick-off show is Bit Shifter (aka Josh Davis), whose stage performance consists of two Nintendo Game Boys. State of the Arts producer Christopher Benincasa paid Bit Shifter a visit at his home in Astoria, Queens to get the scoop on one of the newest musical trends on the planet. Style guru and former Sex Pistols manager Malcolm McLaren calls it the "humanization of electronic music... the beginning of the look and sound of 21st-century pop culture."
see bit shifter perform at the tank.
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