Experiencing Hipnautica onstage is a total immersion event. This group of performers, comprised initially of Sky, Trick Appeal Galore, Jordan Jones, a
variety of dancers, singers and other artists and musicians blurs even their own lines
when on stage. Sky, the leader of this band of anything-but-followers began his
current journey just a few years ago after several false starts and detours. His initial
solo stylings drew interested performers to his flame, and this morphed into the everchanging
kaleidoscope that is Hipnautica today.
Sky will tell you that travel and accident (in the grimmest sense) brought him to
create the group and the music. From his beginnings as a solo performer, he has arched
his way into a leadership position for this creative melange and the World Music arena
is richer for it. Pixie and Erik actually came on board after Sky restarted the project
solo and after Inca and Predictus de Mortume. Their music is truly engaging. Some
songs are dark, moody, some whisper shades of Erik Satie or faint traces of Django
Rinehart in their style. One piece, “Dance of Infiniti”, clocks at over 16 minutes and
weirdly seems simultaneously both much shorter and mesmerizingly long.
Stretching far from the standard “a couple of guitars, a singer and probably
drums” format, Hipnautica is fluid and ever changing. This group is a melting pot and
an amoebic mosaic. In addition to Sky, other group members (if “members” is not too strong of a word -- possibly “participants” is more accurate, or “fellow-travellers”?) frequently include Pixie, an operatic vocalist, Erik Ryan (from Lust Murder Box) on bass and guitars, Blue on tribal and hybrid electronic drums, Predictus De Mortume a vocalist, lyricist, and dancer, Omid on Aboriginal didgeridoo and Native American Indian flute, Sarah Flo, vocalist, lyricist, didgiridoo and percussion, Roscine a Butoh, a performance artist, and Guymon Adams on heavy guitars, not to mention dark world Gypsies like Tinkr, Infiniti, and Miranda. Occasionally Hipnautica also includes Indrajit Banerjee on traditional Indian sitar and Gourisankar Kamakar on traditional Indian tabla. They even feature their own make up artist - Wendy Sanders of Blood and Glitter. Additional performers are constantly welcome and talents may or may not include dancers, poets, and other artists. Whew!
Hipnautica’s contributions to World Music range from “The Engagement”, which is “dedicated to the lost people of Southern Sudan” to “Aerial Oasis” which was “written for the KiteDemos.com demonstration of the Synergy Deca. A kite we use on occasion for Kite Performance all over the world.” Their myspace page also features “The ShadowedLands club remix” with the haunting lyrics:
This melody has an air of almost Gregorian chant to it, while the subtle beat and lyrics interweave rhythmically. Hypnotic indeed!
This group is not mated to any particular format, and has enough members to perform in a variety of venues easily. They performed for SxSW (South by Southwest) in Austin. They performed in a “pure Gothic Industrial showcase” at Elysium on March 13, and in more of a total performance mode, they were part of an official SXSW Interactive After Party on March 16 at the Palmer Event Center. This second did not classified as a concert but rather as performance art featuring music, dance, and “possibly a stilt walker” -- be ready to be amazed, engaged and delighted, but please check your preconceived notions at the door when you see them live. They have a gig scheduled on may 8th on Dripping Springs, TX. at Thunder of the Gods. It’s a great experience and the publisher recommends it.
[ Written by Rachel Matthews whom writes in Austin, Texas and cyberspace,
often simultaneously, thus proving that one can be in two places at the same time. ]
Gallery Lombardi's Erotica 2008 is more than a meditation on sexuality. It’s a multidimensional sensory explosion that challenges our relationship to sex, the body, and creativity with fearless exploration of these themes in nearly every conceivable form. The exhibit, curated by Rachel Koper and Ron Prince, showcases over 50 adventurous works including painting, sculpture, video, installation, and mixed media.
How’s this for original: in Barbara Irwin’s object art piece, “Ecstasy,” a tiny golden woman arches her back over a bed in front of a round mirror, from the confines of a golden cage. Tim Alan Wilson presents gleaming dominatrixes and their eager servants, cut from bronze. Reverent fertility offerings, like Oscar Silva’s “Goddess,” and April Garcia’s “In Full Bloom,” use soft textures and inviting shapes to pay homage to the creative possibility inherent in the vulva. Silva uses seed pods to show the universality of this theme, and Garcia’s towering 38” x 50” sculpture make its metaphorical importance delightfully tangible.
From humor to morbidity, Gallery Lombardi’s artists leave no aspect of erotica untouched. Jennifer Cole’s ferocious oil painting, “You Want a Piece of Me?”, shows what happens when the blond who’s been hired to jump out of a cake (frosted “Mr. President”) turns fierce. Even as she stands with cherries for nipples and breasts slathered in whipped cream, she licks the knife-point with an expression that says she’s anything but sweet. Sarah Sudhoff’s unbarred defiance of sex and sterility manifests in photography and video of her own ventures in the gynecologist’s office, and bathing in a medical basin. Cy Smathers lightens things up, offering imagined insight into the specific endowments—or lack thereof—of various political figures (Hint: Keith Obermann rides high and mighty ... Karl Rove, not so much), culminating in a mixed media on canvas piece that’s playful with a satirical bite.
Local arts collective Hipnautica brought Saturday night’s opening reception to a magical close. Their live Butoh performance art seemed right out of a haunted forest. Surrounded by branches and dried flowers, in striking black-on-white makeup and ghostly garments, they lorded over open flames as DJed beats filled the night. A fitting blessing for an exhibition not to be missed, you’ll even find Austinist’s own Julie Holden as the inspiration for Amalia Litras’s "Julie" series, which colorfully explores the human body from the inside. Just because the heat is on doesn’t mean we can’t stand to get a little steamy.
