Ari Benjamin Meyers: The Name of This Band is The Art

For his debut show at RaebervonStenglin, Ari Benjamin Meyers exhibits a temporary rock band. The name of this band is The Art. Playing in situ all day, during the opening hours of the gallery over five weeks of his exhibition’s duration, The Art is defined by a particular length of time in a particular space. A manufactured group, its members will be art school students who have responded to an advert by the artist that very precisely sets out the terms of its existence. Everything The Art does will take place in the setting of the gallery: from first coming together as a band, progressing through first rehearsals to well-practiced group, before finally — and as is contractually inevitable — breaking up.

Just as the band is the creation of Meyers, so too is the score that The Art will play. The artist has composed a collection of verses, choruses and bridges that will form the basis of The Art’s repertoire, complex enough for the band to inhabit over their sustained gallery performance, yet deliberately kept open enough to allow improvisation and freedom of interpretation. An artist educated as a conductor and composer, Meyers’ work traverses these categories, dissolving the distinctions between art and music, rehearsal and performance. So although he was classically trained, he hasplayed in and worked with a number of bands including Einstürzende Neubauten, The Orb, The Residents, Celan and most recently Chicks on Speed.

Bene Andrist (drums)
Weronika Boada Peñafiel (voice)
Steve Laurent Graf (guitar)
Juan Mauricio Schmid Bello (bass)
Costumes and merchandise by Georgie+Timmy Studio
Scenarios and liner notes by John Holten
Graphic design by Ronny Hunger