Steve Reich's "Come Out" and the Harlem Six /  by Tim Lane

On Saturday, January 22nd, 2022, I left the house around eleven in the morning to take some books to Robin Books. I had been listening to American composer Steve Reich on Spotify, Works 1965-1995. When I got home about an hour later, I discovered that the music was still playing in the kitchen on the Google speakers. But I didn’t recognize the piece—I wasn’t even sure if it was still Steve Reich. It turns out that it was one of Reich’s earliest tape compositions, Come Out. I was intrigued so I googled it and read a Pitchfork article about it while I replayed the music. I had no idea this moment was to become a powerful educational minute about a horrible episode in American History perpetrated upon a group of young black men who became known as the Harlem Six. As I read the Pitchfork article, written in 2016 by Andy Beta—”Blood and Echoes: The Story of Come Out, Steve Reich’s Civil Rights Era Masterpiece“—I was riveted. I felt some powerful emotions in that moment of reading the article and listening to Come Out for the second time. Had I learned about the Harlem Six? Not really. Had I heard of the Harlem Six? Yes. Did I have a basic understanding of the police brutality enacted upon the young black men? Vague details from secondary news stories and from conversations. Had I heard of Wallace Baker and Daniel Hamm and what became known as The Little Fruit Stand Riot? No. Not at all. I leave below a link to Steve Reich’s Come Out. Andy Beta’s article in Pitchfork can be found here. It should be read. Read it while you listen to Come Out. I dare say a reading of the article combined with a listening of the composition will cement the details of this terrible episode of our nation’s past in your mind and soul. Injustice and horrific acts do not need to be depicted in art before they become memorable, though. But art can help make it resonate forever. So others can learn and atrocities are not forgotten. I didn’t know, but now I know. Pitchfork article: ”Blood and Echoes: The Story of Come Out, Steve Reich’s Civil Rights Era Masterpiece,” written in 2016 by Andy Beta.

#theharlemsix #stevereich

#readallthebooks /  by Tim Lane

Your Silent Face is an 80s coming-of-age novel set in Flint, Michigan, that explores themes of class, family, violence, fitting in, fractured Native American identity and the transition to adulthood. The main character is a first gen college student who is obsessed with 80s New Wave and post punk music and struggles to decide if he should return to school after summer vacation or settle back into the East Side of Flint.

“The reader will likely be reminded of Nick Hornby’s 1995 novel High Fidelity or possibly Richard Linklater’s 1993 film Dazed and Confused….” KIRKUS REVIEWS.

You can find the full review here. Other reviews can be found on Amazon here.

“What lies ahead that doesn’t suck? Summer break forces Stuart Page to return home and wrestle with his fraying ties to the East Side of Flint, his memory an archive of cassettes he would like to erase. His freshman year of college was lame. More early Cure than Spandau Ballet, he might be overheard saying. More Gary Numan than Falco.

Flustered by visits from a stoic viking, fueled by an endless supply of beer, Stu picks apart an obsession with the lead singer of Joy Division and chugs the sour dregs of insecurity as he drunkenly veers through Flint’s blue collar fight culture, summer hook ups, the aftereffects of Old School Catholicism and Reaganomics in Your Silent Face.”
— Your Silent Face back cover blurb

Lila heartily endorses Your Silent Face.

#readallthebooks #readabook #readandreview #selfpromotion #selfpromosaturday #80s #GenX #NewWave #postpunk #comingofage #classstruggle #firstgencollege #nativeamerican #Flint #midwest #rustbelt #graffiti #clubbing #clubkids #joydivision #iancurtis #bluecollar #bluecollarlife #fiction #fictionbooks #fictionwriting #fictionwriters #lovelansing

Where the Streets Have No Names, 2022: A New Painting /  by Tim Lane

While I post this new painting, my son is at the Whitney working his way to the Jasper Johns retrospective. I am very happy for him, and I am very happy that a member of the family is actually getting to this exhibition. Whenever anybody asks, “Whose your favorite painter?” I usually answer, “Jasper Johns.” His work has had a profound influence upon my work—there’s no denying it. The hope, of course, is that by this stage of the game, you cannot really see any or many of the influences in my work, right?

I have to say that I really enjoyed making this new piece.

#worksonpaper #contemporaryart #contemporarypainting #coloredpencil #carandache #acrylicpainting #spraypaint #gouache #stencils #crayon #spaceart #quantumphysics #reality #philosophy #physics #artwork #lovelansing #yoursilentface #drawing #artoftheday #artonpaper #timlane #newpainting #newwork #U2 #jasperjohns #thewhitney #artoninstagram

Realities Project, 2022: A New Painting /  by Tim Lane

This is the second painting of what could be the beginning of a new series. The first painting was small, almost a study or an exercise. This one is bigger, back to 30”x22”. I do not have a whole lot to say about this shift at the moment—it has been mostly intuitive.

#worksonpaper #contemporaryart #contemporarypainting #coloredpencil #carandache #acrylicpainting #spraypaint #stencils #spaceart #quantumphysics #reality #philosophy #physics #artwork #lovelansing #yoursilentface #drawing #artoftheday #artonpaper #timlane #newpainting #newwork

Sends Me an Angel, 2022

acrylic, spray paint, pencil & crayon on paper

30”x22”

Doubling Back: My Renewed Interest in Black Flag /  by Tim Lane

I am currently reading Henry Rollins’ Black Flag memoir, Get In the Van. I really like his diaristic approach. I have kept a journal for a long time—we’re talking decades.

Flint had a fairly strong underground punk rock alternative bands scene (among other musics) in the 80s when I was a teen and would have been delving into punk rock (a bit of which is captured in my 80s coming-of-age novel, Your Silent Face), but truth-be-told, I did not get into punk rock a whole lot. Just a bit. I went to some local shows but never saw a big traveling band like Black Flag. I liked BF, though, and Naked Raygun, from Chicago, the Angry Samoans, Dead Kennedys and The Crucifucks, from Lansing. A few others. I was more into New Wave.

I was a skinny dude who always knew he would get hurt in the mosh pit. I had some angry energy that needed to be exercised, but I always seemed to exercise it on myself, and never actually dared to attempt some stage diving. There was a bit of slam dancing at safe, organized dances, where me and some of my friends were the most punk rock thing in the house, but there are no photos of me deep in the mosh pit or diving off the stage at a punk show in Flint or anywhere else. When I did get to a show, I hung back in the wings and observed.

I have probably listened to more Black Flag lately than I did in my whole adolescence. Why the renewed interest? I am not sure, but part of it definitely arises from reading about it. So why am I reading Get In the Van now? I’m not entirely sure about that either, but I think that part of me is drawn to it because I have become a D.I.Y kind of artist/writer as an older adult, and that was something that BF totally stood for. I was surrounded by some musician’s and creatives in my last year of college at the house I was living in (Bleak House) who were totally immersed in the D.Y.I. culture, but I still had ideas of being “discovered.” When I look back, I do wish that I had been rocking a zine in college, or arranging poetry readings, or trying to sell art postcards, or whatever. However, I did get there. I am here. I make my own art, and I push it myself, as well, because there is no longer any time to wait on being discovered. So I have doubled back to read about some of the 80s pioneers of this aesthetic, I guess.

I totally recommend Get In the Van from a historical and sociological sense and because of its easily digestible, note-booking prose. I like how Rollins wrote this memoir.

To be sure, that were factions and aspects of punk rock that terrified me, and still do, but I did try to keep my ear and mind open when it was happening in the 80s. I remember spiking my hair with Vasoline one Halloween and putting on a sleeveless surfer shirt. In hindsight, the Vasoline was a bad idea.

I was never a punk rocker, though.

Rollins perspective of society is interesting. Five out of five stars.

#blackflag #flint #punkrock #getinthevan #henryrollins #80s #80smusic #doityourself #DIY #DIYaesthetic #postpunk #newwave #yoursilentface #contemporaryartist #contemporaryart #diary #memoir #blog #blogging #bleakhouse #MSU #lovelansing #thecrucifucks

Artist Susan Hensel: Chromatic Fabric Sculptures /  by Tim Lane

If you are not familiar with Susan Hensel—based in Minneapolis—then you need to check out the video below which presents what she has been up to lately. Susan is a prolific artist. I have had the pleasure of keeping tabs on her work for the past twenty-five years.

I was lucky to be able to see Susan’s work firsthand when she lived and worked in Michigan. In the late 90s or early 2000s, my wife and I took a paper making class in her driveway. Trained as a sculptor, the way in which Susan has incorporated fabric and installation into her practice has always been intriguing and inspiring.

In 2006, after Susan had relocated to Minneapolis, my friend—and fellow artist—Travis Bruce Black and I were fortunate to work with Susan at her new gallery and work space. That summer, with Susan’s curation and direction, Travis and I hung a show titled Poems of Loss and Desperation. It featured paintings and a poetry reading. It was such a fine experience. Trav and I learned a lot about installing work, and the opening was a blast. It is a great memory. Working with Susan was wonderful.

Enjoy the video below and visit Susan’s website.

#susanhensel #fabric #sculpture #installation #contemporaryart #MinneapolisArtist #multimediaartist #installationart #installationartist #art #artwork #contemporaryartist #susanhenselart #susanhenselprojects

How to Connect with Your Silent Face /  by Tim Lane

If you are new to this, then just wanted to let you know that you can get connected with my 80s coming-of-age novel, Your Silent Face, on this website, at Robin Books, in REOtown, Lansing, directly from me (just contact me), or on Amazon. Electronic version is also on Apple Books.

You can check out reviews on Amazon. For a full review, go to Kirkus Reviews.

You can check out the companion Spotify playlist for free here.

“A meandering but vigorous story about wayward youth and the necessity of art.”
— KIRKUS REVIEWS

#80smusic #NewWave #postpunk #JoyDivison #NewOrder #DepecheMode #Prince #TheCure #Flint #graffiti #urbanpoetry #rustbelt #nativeamerican #GenX #ficiton #novels #comingofage #literature #contemporaryliterature #contemporaryfiction #DIY #yoursilentface #yoursilentfacethenovel #yoursilentfacetimlane #art #waywardyouth #punkrock #newwavemusic #postpunkmusic #Goth #clubbing #danceclubs #80snewwave #flashbackfriday

Ambient Industrial Music: Voltage Controlled Ficus /  by Tim Lane

A friend of mine is really into vintage keyboards and electronics. Ficus is a good musician and all-around highly intelligent and creative individual. (Read genius-type there.) I fondly remember him appropriately correcting me sometime in the mid 80s:

“Tim, I really think that New Order’s album Low Life is way more mainstream than Power, Corruption & Lies. Yep, kinda think so. Just sayin’.” I’m talking about Ficus aka Marc King, here. And guess what; he was right, but very kind about it!

Ficus has been working in the automotive industry ever since he left GMI-slash-Kettering Institute in the late 80s. This experience clearly influences his latest release, Manufacturing 101. If you are curious about, or already enjoy, ambient music, explore this release. It has a gritty, tectonic and Old School Casio technological vibe that makes for great listening when you do not need or want lyrics and popular tunes. I’ve been looping it for a few days now. It echoes some of Brian Eno’s early work (thinking Music for Airports) and some of Steve Reich’s work. If—like me—you dig different kinds of drone, trance, noise or electronic music, this is it.

Visit his site to download it today! Support independent creatives!

#ambientmusic #drone #trance #noisemusic #noise #manufacturing #automotiveindustry #flint