An experimental and invigorating amalgam of music lights sounds and movies is what brings DJ Spooky critical acclaim and sold out performances worldwide.
Today in the Student Union Great Hall" DJ Spooky will present a mixture of performance and lecture as he discusses and demonstrates his work. The event is a prelude to his world premiere performance of ""Video Soul: Wattstax to the Avant Garde" on Saturday at Duke University's Reynolds Industries Theater.
Spooky takes cultural material and re-presents it with subtle aural and sound cues and does his rhythm science thing" said Paul Jones, creator and director of Ibiblio, who is co-sponsoring the event. He's a DJ" but it's not all in the can; it's not like he gets up there" pushes a button and sits down. It's a live performance every time. He's very eclectic about what he does.""
DJ Spooky" whose given name is Paul Miller has been called a pioneer in the field of conceptual multimedia performance art. He remixes video sound and music using turntables and video editing equipment to create original performances from samples of others' work.
Miller will discuss the process of his work including the collection and development of his sounds and music" and the re-editing of movies for his performance of ""Video Soul"" on Saturday.
""Video Soul"" re-creates Mel Stuart's acclaimed documentary ""Wattstax"" about the 1970s concert featuring Isaac Hayes and Richard Pryor that was performed right after the Watts Riots. Miller will combine remixed music from that era, with sounds and music from the present - exploring the concepts of then"" and ""now.""
Ibiblio" an online company whose mission is to provide access to sharing software music and ideas freely and legally was created by Jones 15 years ago in conjunction with the School of Library and Information Sciences at UNC. Today's event is part of a series presented by Ibiblio in celebration of its 15-year anniversary.
And the event is not only multimedia but multi-sponsored too. The list of sponsors for Miller's performances perhaps testifies to the uniqueness and interdisciplinary nature of his work. The departments of English art cultural studies the School of Information and Library Science's Open Video Project Carolina Union Activities Board" Carolina Free Culture and the Performing Arts and Special Activities Fund all sponsored the event.
""What excited us" along with DJ Spooky was the co-sponsors" said Robert Gurdian, Carolina Union president. We like working with different groups" and these are people we haven't worked with before and always wanted to work with. And we know it's a great idea" so it really got us excited to do it.""
But Jones said Miller's work is not just for the artistically minded crowd.
""The nice thing about Spooky is that it's danceable; it's a little bit aural. His music is really great but he never stopped at music"" Jones said. And anybody who knows Spooky a little bit knows that you'll be able to have a little interaction with him and that there's always a surprise.""
Contact the Arts Editor at artsdesk@unc.edu.
