First published 2001
Brian O'Doherty examines the innovative work of Canadian artist Rodney Graham through his multimedia project "Getting it Together in the Country." Graham breaks down barriers between artistic formats by combining an LP record with extensive written documentation. The record features Graham's guitar improvisations responding to the mass love scene from Michelangelo Antonioni's film "Zabriskie Point." He packages this music in cover art that mimics Deutsche Grammaphone's classical album designs. The accompanying text presents Graham's reflections on Kurt Cobain and Antonioni's controversial film alongside documentation of his broader artistic practice. O'Doherty positions this work within Graham's career as a member of Vancouver's avant-garde art scene, showing how the artist uses postmodern and post-conceptual approaches to create intelligent commentary on popular culture and cinema.
Genres: biography, art, contemporary, cultural-studies
Vibes: intimate, lyrical, thought-provoking
Tropes: intelligent-commentary, multimedia-project
Setting: Vancouver
Period: 20th-century, 21st-century
28 pages · Paperback · Oktagon