i believe that somewhere, there is something worth dying for. and i think it's amazing.

i've been reading about the Providence, RI, underground art/music scene this weekend because of my new found interest in john dwyer of the coachwhips, pink and brown, and his most recent work with thee oh sees. it seems as though much of the most innovative and daring work in the late 90s came from a collective, now disbanded, that dwyer was a member of called Fort Thunder. pictures of the old Fort Thunder, which is now a parking lot, are here >> http://fortthunder.02909.com/gallery-00.html

an excellent short essay (with a few typos) on art, culture, commercialization of art from a former Fort Thunderer here >> http://mudboymusic.com/wunderground.html

The problem lies in the fact that institutions devoted to preserving and promoting documents tend to think in terms of a legacy of objects. They see their work as part of a long chain of objects, and what counts to them is things with faces attached- not events or experiences. Their world is the world of paintings, and books; manifestos and letters of intent; things to be hung up, shelved, counted, sorted and named. They draw a circle around some, and not others- giving labels where perhaps none belong- and in doing so eliminate everything contradictory, ephemeral, and fragile.
Their imposed coherence can never do justice to something that is in fact unlimited, wild and unpredictable- something indefinitely growing and changing.
Something dangerous. This is a thing called culture- moments and shared experiences for the "us" who are watching, listening and making. 

from a 2006 nytimes article about a retrospective on the providence scene >>

Another product of the Providence/RISD scene is Ryan Trecartin, a recent graduate of the school whose brilliant senior-year film, “A Family Finds Entertainment,” may be the apotheosis of Fort Thunder’s collage-cartoon aesthetic. It was screened at the 2006 Whitney Biennial on a small monitor near the elevator and was not widely noticed.

below is the first of five youtube videos of a family finds entertainment. i think it's pretty awesome.

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