The Contemporary Austin Collaborates with SXSW Film and SXSW Music Through the Exhibition Tom Sachs: Boombox Retrospective 1999–2015
March 5, 2015
March 5, 2015, Austin, Texas – For the second year, The Contemporary Austin and SXSW will collaborate on events linking the museum’s exhibitions with the Festival. The current exhibition at the museum, Tom Sachs: Boombox Retrospective 1999–2015, is a natural fit for collaboration with SXSW Music, as many of the works on view incorporate boomboxes and other sound systems controlled by a central “DJ booth,” which is also a work of art.
For three days of official SXSW Music events, this piece, entitled Presidential Vampire Booth (2002), will be used as it was originally intended. On March 18, 19, and 20, Presidential Vampire Booth, along with the 12 sound-emitting sculptures it controls, will be activated by hip-hop and electronic DJs chosen by SXSW staff and Tom Sachs. These include both upcoming and legendary producers who share an affinity for sound system and hip-hop culture, such as Young Guru, Hank Shocklee, Just Blaze, and more (full schedule below). Each will use Sachs’s artworks as “instruments” and sound systems as they spin unique sets for the venue. Each event will also feature a cash bar on the museum’s stunning Roof Deck overlooking downtown Austin. London-based online radio station NTS will broadcast live from the events, which will be aired at ntslive.co.uk as part of the station’s unique programming that aims to be a “platform for inspired people to present their findings, passions, and obsessions.” Priority admission will be given to SXSW badge and wristband holders with limited public access at the museum’s regular admission of $5.
In addition to these official SXSW Music events, artist Tom Sachs will premiere his film A Space Program during SXSW Film, among other festival-related events. In addition, all SXSW badge holders will receive free admission to The Contemporary Austin throughout SXSW Interactive, Film, and Music.
A full list of SXSW-related programs follows. All information is subject to change. Up-to-date information can be found at SXSW.com or thecontemporaryaustin.org.
SXSW AND TOM SACHS PROGRAMS
Tom Sachs Zine Signing
Sunday, March 15, 2P
The Contemporary Austin – Jones Center, 700 Congress Ave.
Artist Tom Sachs often accompanies his exhibitions with handmade zines that both chronicle and amplify his projects. These zines exist as stand-alone works of art mirroring the DIY aesthetic of his sculptures. Zines produced in conjunction with Tom Sachs: Boombox Retrospective 1999–2015, as well as zines and other paraphernalia from the artist’s Space Program works, will be available for sale on-site, with the artist on hand to sign them amid his immersive installations at The Contemporary Austin.
SXSW Film Premiere: A Space Program
Monday, March 16, 9P
Stateside Theatre, 719 Congress Ave.
Additional Screenings
Tuesday, March 17, 2:15P, Marchesa Theatre, 6226 Middle Fiskville Road
Thursday, March 19, 3P, Alamo Drafthouse South Lamar, 1120 S. Lamar Blvd.
In A Space Program, Tom Sachs takes us on an intricately handmade journey to the Red Planet, providing audiences with a first-person look inside his studio and methods. The film is both a piece of art in its own right and a record of Sachs’s incredible installation Space Program 2.0: MARS, which opened at New York’s Park Avenue Armory in 2012. For Space Program 2.0: MARS, Sachs and his team built an entire space program guided by the philosophy of bricolage: a process of constructing and creating from a diverse range of available things. The team ultimately sent two female astronauts to Mars in search of the answer to humankind’s ultimate question: Are we alone? (2015, 72 min.)
SXSW Music Events: Boombox Retrospective
Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday, March 18, 19, 20
1–5P, doors open at 12P
The Contemporary Austin – Jones Center, 700 Congress Avenue
Admission: SXSW badge and wristband holders receive priority and free access; general admission $5. Limited capacity. Cash bar on the Roof Deck.
The SXSW Music Festival returns to The Contemporary Austin as part of Tom Sachs: Boombox Retrospective 1999–2015. For three days, some of the most acclaimed and influential DJs and producers in electronic and hip-hop music—selected by SXSW Music and artist Tom Sachs—will use the functional, boombox-inspired sculptures in the artist’s immersive installation as their instruments to create music.
Event Lineup
Wednesday, March 18
1P Young Guru
2P Redinho
3P Nadus
4P Hank Shocklee
Thursday, March 19
1P Suicideyear
2P DJ Sliink
3P Dream Koala
4P J. Rocc
Friday, March 20
1P Just Blaze
2P Knxwledge
3P IAMNOBODI
4P Peanut Butter Wolf
MUSEUM HOURS DURING SXSW
The Contemporary Austin – Jones Center, 700 Congress Avenue
• March 13–14: 11A–7P
• March 15: 12–5P
• March 16: CLOSED
• March 17: 11A–7P
• March 18–20: Official SXSW events 12–5P (limited public capacity). Open to the public 5–7P.
• March 21: 11A–7P
• March 22: 12–5P
The Contemporary Austin – Betty and Edward Marcus Sculpture Park at Laguna Gloria, 3809 West 35th Street
• March 13–15: Gallery open 10A–4P; Sculpture Park and Grounds open 9A–4P
• March 16: CLOSED
• March 17–18: CLOSED for private event
• March 19–21: Gallery open 10A–4P; Sculpture Park and Grounds open 9A–4P
• March 22: Gallery open 10A–4P; Sculpture Park and Grounds open 10A–5P
Please note additional Tom Sachs–related programming in Austin during SXSW: March 12–April 25: Lora Reynolds Gallery will present Tom Sachs: Nuggets. The exhibition features Sachs’s conspicuously handmade re-creations of objects such as a boombox, a Barbie doll, a cleaver, and more, cobbled together from wood, epoxy, ceramic, and sometimes electrical components. Opening reception March 12, 6–8P; artist talk at 7P. Information at www.lorareynolds.com.
THE CONTEMPORARY AUSTIN
The Contemporary Austin reflects the spectrum of contemporary art through exhibitions, commissions, education, and the collection. The museum has two distinct yet complementary sites, the Jones Center in downtown Austin at 700 Congress Avenue, and Laguna Gloria, a fourteen-acre site on Lake Austin at 3809 W. 35th Street, which is home to the Driscoll Villa, the Art School, the Betty and Edward Marcus Sculpture Park at Laguna Gloria, and the Gatehouse Gallery.
IMAGE: Tom Sachs, Toyan’s, 2002. Mixed media. 97 x 148 x 30 inches. Installation view, The Contemporary Austin – Jones Center, Austin, 2015. Courtesy Tom Sachs Studio. Photograph by Genevieve Hanson.
For additional information and to request media images, please contact:
Nicole Chism Griffin
Manager of Marketing & Public Relations
[email protected]
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