by jon bosworth jaxvillain@yahoo.com
In a city like New York, Chicago, or even Atlanta visual art scenes are a very different animal than the live rock scene. The two are usually mutually exclusive. Because there is a wealth of musicians and music fans to sustain the live music scene, as well as plenty of artists and art-lovers to sustain that scene independently, rarely will the two cross. In Jacksonville, music and visual artists work together to generate interest in each. When Inertia Records and Heartworks Gallery did Mark George’s art show last year, they invited the two-piece rock outfit The Yusge to perform. Often the two even attempt to create simultaneously, as Jimmy Pines used to at the Art Bar during weekend rock shows, and even more recently The Sounds Trains Make at London Bridge performed an avant-garde set while artist Derek Desislets painted to the sound.
Mark George, in fact, cites punk rock as a major influence on his work, although there is no auditory component to his art, the ethic of punk rock is deeply ingrained in his inspiration.
Artist Ian Chase may not play music out in public much these days, but his first foray into the national landscape was as the bass player for the Jacksonville-based Sub Pop band Rein Sanction. Joe Parker of Hand of the Host is also a photographer and artist of exceptional caliber. One of Jacksonville’s more talked-about artists, mactruQue, has recently been focusing a good deal of his creative ability on playing guitar and live musical performances that sometimes complement, and sometimes overshadow, his current show. The history runs long. In Jacksonville, creative people find whatever way they can to create, and because the audiences of art in this town are often also the audiences of music, there is a natural union between the two.
Downtown’s ArtWalk is an example of this in action. Every ArtWalk features a litany of artists in various mediums displaying their work, but the presence of music is inevitable. Whether it’s an avant-garde performer at Burrito Gallery, mactruQue playing acoustic songs to the street, Tropic of Cancer playing in front of the Landing, or The Sounds Trains Make outside of London Bridge, in Jacksonville, art and music are different parts of the same animal.
Art is often showcased inside of music venues, but Jacksonville’s scene is far more intimate than that. Although this could be attributed to a lackluster public that does not pay enough attention to either scene independently (or art in any form for that matter) it has also cultivated a unique and innovative set of artists and musicians that have learned the value of appreciating a variety of aesthetics and even how to incorporate various mediums in an artistic experience to transcend the concept of “multi-media” in the traditional sense of the phrase within the auspices of visual arts. Not only are Jacksonville artists using collage, paint, pencil, and graphic design in their work, they are also using audio components. In the past we have even seen bands such as Jon Todd, or more recently, Bernard and Crash the Satellites, utilizing a cinematic element by projecting film onto a screen behind them, or as the spotlight illuminating their performances on stage.
The point is that the lack of money and interest in art may appear at first glance to be a limitation to creativity when in actuality it provides our town with a unique artistic identity that we should not only cherish, but support and promote. So whether you take friends to enjoy a first Wednesday ArtWalk or go to catch a show at 9th & Main or Burrito Gallery, make sure to take in the art while you enjoy the music and vice versa. It’s something you may not be able to do anywhere else in quite the same way.
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