Artists Space

Abasement #74

Concert
December 2, 2024, 7pm

Performances by Eric Copeland, Arto Lindsay, Ayman Asfour, Gabe Lavin, John Murchinson Trio, Leila Bordreuil + Tamio Shiraishi, and Invisible Scissors. DJ Ivan Berko. Visuals by Jim Spring.

Magazine cut-outs and ink drawings are collaged together on a background of bright yellow paper. Pieces of paper with typewritten text listing the performers and event details are scattered around the flyer.
Flyer by Joe Frivaldi. [Magazine cut-outs and ink drawings are collaged together on a background of bright yellow paper. Pieces of paper with typewritten text listing the performers and event details are scattered around the flyer.]

Abasement is a music series featuring performances, a guest DJ, and a projectionist. Beginning in 2015 at Max Fish bar in New York's Lower East Side, the evening brings together artists and bands working in free improvisation, jazz, noise, minimalism, and experimental composition. When Max Fish permanently closed due to Covid, one of the few experimental music venues in Manhattan temporarily ceased to exist. Artists Space is pleased to continue hosting Abasement.

A performer sitting down playing the guitar is bathed in colorful light. They are wearing a geometric print shirt and a blue, green, and white projected pattern covers their face and the wall behind. There are two mic stands to their right.
Abasement #74. Performance documentation, December 2nd, 2024, Artists Space. Photo: Joshua Wildman. [A performer sitting down playing the guitar is bathed in colorful light. They are wearing a geometric print shirt and a blue, green, and white projected pattern covers their face and the wall behind. There are two mic stands to their right.]
Two performers on stage with a few audience members in the foreground. The performer on the left is sitting, looking down, and playing guitar. The performer on the right is standing and holding a bow. The audience and musicians are tinted with orange and red toned lights. An abstract orange and green projection covers the back wall.
Abasement #74. Performance documentation, December 2nd, 2024, Artists Space. Photo: Joshua Wildman. [Two performers on stage with a few audience members in the foreground. The performer on the left is sitting, looking down, and playing guitar. The performer on the right is standing and holding a bow. The audience and musicians are tinted with orange and red toned lights. An abstract orange and green projection covers the back wall.]
A view from the side of the stage of two performers. The performer in the back is playing the saxophone and has their eyes closed. The musician in the foreground is out of focus. They are playing the cello. Both musicians are tinted red, as well as the audience on the left side, and the room has white dots of light reflecting from a disco ball.
Abasement #74. Performance documentation, December 2nd, 2024, Artists Space. Photo: Joshua Wildman. [A view from the side of the stage of two performers. The performer in the back is playing the saxophone and has their eyes closed. The musician in the foreground is out of focus. They are playing the cello. Both musicians are tinted red, as well as the audience on the left side, and the room has white dots of light reflecting from a disco ball.]
A performer sitting down with their eyes closed playing the cello. They are using one hand to play with a bow and the other hand is on the strings. They are tinted red from the lighting, the back wall is lit with white and purple light.
Abasement #74. Performance documentation, December 2nd, 2024, Artists Space. Photo: Joshua Wildman. [A performer sitting down with their eyes closed playing the cello. They are using one hand to play with a bow and the other hand is on the strings. They are tinted red from the lighting, the back wall is lit with white and purple light.]
An image of three performers on stage facing each other. The musician in the middle is standing and playing an upright bass with a bow. On their right side a musician is sitting and playing violin. On the other side a musician is sitting playing an instrument similar to a mandolin. They are all bathed in red light and projections of white angular shapes cover the musicians and the wall.
Abasement #74. Performance documentation, December 2nd, 2024, Artists Space. Photo: Joshua Wildman. [An image of three performers on stage facing each other. The musician in the middle is standing and playing an upright bass with a bow. On their right side a musician is sitting and playing violin. On the other side a musician is sitting playing an instrument similar to a mandolin. They are all bathed in red light and projections of white angular shapes cover the musicians and the wall.]
A close view of a performer playing the violin. Their hand using the bow is in focus and the rest of the image is slightly blurred. They are playing into a microphone on a stand. To their left a performer plays the upright bass. Both musicians are covered with red light and images of projected green circles.
Abasement #74. Performance documentation, December 2nd, 2024, Artists Space. Photo: Joshua Wildman. [A close view of a performer playing the violin. Their hand using the bow is in focus and the rest of the image is slightly blurred. They are playing into a microphone on a stand. To their left a performer plays the upright bass. Both musicians are covered with red light and images of projected green circles.]
A performer playing a blue retro-style guitar stands in front of a large audience. The crowd faces the musician, some of them are sitting closer to the stage and others stand in the background. A red stage light on the ceiling illuminates the room. White dots reflect around the room from a disco ball.
Abasement #74. Performance documentation, December 2nd, 2024, Artists Space. Photo: Joshua Wildman. [A performer playing a blue retro-style guitar stands in front of a large audience. The crowd faces the musician, some of them are sitting closer to the stage and others stand in the background. A red stage light on the ceiling illuminates the room. White dots reflect around the room from a disco ball.]
Musician holding a microphone stand with both hands. Their eyes are closed and they are wearing glasses. A blue guitar is around their body. The background and the musicians face are decorated with green, blue, red, and yellow abstract patterns.
Abasement #74. Performance documentation, December 2nd, 2024, Artists Space. Photo: Joshua Wildman. [Musician holding a microphone stand with both hands. Their eyes are closed and they are wearing glasses. A blue guitar is around their body. The background and the musicians face are decorated with green, blue, red, and yellow abstract patterns.]
A room full of audience members in a pink-tinted room. The people in the front are sitting, and the ones behind are standing close together. Many people are clapping. The room is filled with patterns of white dots reflecting from a disco ball.
Abasement #74. Performance documentation, December 2nd, 2024, Artists Space. Photo: Joshua Wildman. [A room full of audience members in a pink-tinted room. The people in the front are sitting, and the ones behind are standing close together. Many people are clapping. The room is filled with patterns of white dots reflecting from a disco ball.]
A performer on stage leaning over a table with electronic instruments, holding a mic close to their mouth. They are bathed in yellow abstract projections, which also cover the wall.
Abasement #74. Performance documentation, December 2nd, 2024, Artists Space. Photo: Joshua Wildman. [A performer on stage leaning over a table with electronic instruments, holding a mic close to their mouth. They are bathed in yellow abstract projections, which also cover the wall.]
A performer facing an audience in a dim, red-tinted room. The musician is standing over a table covered in electronic instruments. Patterns of white dots reflecting from a disco ball surround the room.
Abasement #74. Performance documentation, December 2nd, 2024, Artists Space. Photo: Joshua Wildman. [A performer facing an audience in a dim, red-tinted room. The musician is standing over a table covered in electronic instruments. Patterns of white dots reflecting from a disco ball surround the room.]

Eric Copeland is a musician and visual artist living and working in NYC. He is a founding member of longtime cult band Black Dice.

Arto Lindsay was born in Richmond, Virginia, and raised in Brazil. He lived in New York for a while where he co-founded the bands DNA, the Lounge Lizards, the Golden Palominos and Ambitious Lovers. Since the mid-90s he has been making records under his own name. Lindsay also makes parades.

Ayman Asfour is a violin player, composer, and improviser from Alexandria, Egypt who is currently based in New York City. Asfour plays across a diverse musical repertoire, including many different styles such as oriental Arabic, Egyptian folk, and improvisational. Throughout Asfour’s career, he has played with many musicians in Egypt, and in the Middle East and Europe. He has also worked as a composer and producer for many projects in Egypt, including in theater and contemporary dance.

John Murchison is a Brooklyn-based bassist and multi-instrumentalist, known for his work spanning musical worlds like jazz and avant-garde, pop and theater, and music from the Middle East and Africa. John is one of the most in-demand bassists for traditional Arabic music in the United States. He is cofounder of Brooklyn Maqam, a non-profit organization dedicated to presenting, promoting, and building community around Arabic music in the NYC area. In addition to his work on bass, he also performs and records regularly on qanun, gimbri, percussion, and synthesizers.

Gabriel Lavin is a musician and scholar based in Brooklyn, NY. For the last 14 years he has performed throughout the Arab world and the United States with ensembles in California, New York, Oman, Egypt, Kuwait, and the UAE. In August 2024, he received a degree in oud performance and teaching from the Bait Al Oud Conservatory in Abu Dhabi. He has also studied at Bait Al Oud in Cairo and with the Oud Association in Muscat, Oman, and obtained a Ph.D. in ethnomusicology from UCLA in 2023.

Leila Bordreuil is a French-American cellist, composer and sound-artist based in Brooklyn, NY. She accesses concepts as diverse as Noise, contemporary classical, free jazz, and experimental traditions but adheres to none of them. Her music mixes deep melancholia with harsh noise-walls at ear-bleeding levels, and was described by the New York Times as “steadily scathing music, favoring long and corrosive atonalities”. Driven by a fierce interest in pure sound and inherent texture, Leila challenges conventional cello practice through extreme extended techniques and unorthodox amplification methods, to the extent she sometimes seems to be playing the P.A system rather than the cello. Her compositions frequently incorporate sound-spatialization by way of site-specific pieces and multichannel installations, and focus on neurological perception and our physiological relationship to sound and space.

Tamio Shiraishi
1949: born in Japan.
Mid 1970's: start working as software engineer in Tokyo.
Late 1970's: start performing music in public. collaborate with various musicians (including Keiji Haino), organize Joyo-Kachi-Bunkai-Kojo (with help of Tori Kudo and many more). co-organize Aiyoku-Jinmin-Juji-Gekijo (with Takahumi Sato).
1980's: in Tokyo, occasionally participate performances of "Homo-Fictus" (theatrical company by Akuta Masahiko). also perform with various performance artists and butoh dancers.
1990: (move to USA) perform with various musicians at various venues including "abc no rio" in NY.
1992: (move back to Tokyo) often perform at Shinjuku-Nishiguchi station square (on the street) in Tokyo.
1994: (again move to NY/USA) perform with many musicians/groups including "CrashWorship".
Mid 2000's: start performing at subway stations in NY (still continuing).
Mid 2010's: retire from software engineer.
2024/current: continue performing with many artists (musicians/performance artists) mostly in NY.

Invisible Scissors is an experimental duo formed out of NYC's underground film community. Rachael Guma (theremin, effects) and Sarah Halpern (electric guitar, voice) are long-time collaborators with works culminating in film, performance, zines and music. Invisible Scissors is the newest manifestation of this evolving collaborative work.

Ivan Berko is a manhattan based DJ, producer, and an all round music lover. He is constantly searching for lost gems to play whether it's for a dance floor or for after the party. Starting out in high school playing in punk bands to now producing and mixing bands and projects downtown music has always come first.

Video provocateur/sound terrorist Jim Spring, returns to Abasement, after a long hiatus, to lend his subversive brand of visuals to the proceedings. Spring first erupted on the scene in the mid 80s as a member of the leading-edge experimental sound collective The Supreme Dicks, whose divine/disturbing peripatetic musical output is not recommended for the faint of heart. Around the same time, Spring joined forces with fellow filmmaking compulsive Jens Jurgenson to create groundbreaking music videos for the likes of Dinosaur Junior, Pussy Galore and The Flaming Lips, that combined ominous imagery with their signature obsessive scratch animation; propelling the art form into a new realm where no man has gone before. Spring was also the producer of the recently acclaimed documentary Fire Music, that chronicles the evolution of the Free Jazz movement. A longtime habitué of Downtown culture, Spring currently resides in Peter Cooper Village and disdains mushrooms (unless psychedelic.)

Abasement has been curated by Joseph Frivaldi and Robert Mayson since 2015.