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Charlemagne Palestine

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Charlemagne Palestine
Palestine at De Appel, Amsterdam, February 2014
Palestine atDe Appel,Amsterdam,February 2014
Background information
Birth nameChaim Moshe Tzadik Palestine
Born1947 (age 76–77)
OriginBrooklyn,New York City, U.S.
GenresMaximalismMinimalist
Experimental
Visual art
Occupation(s)Musical performance artist / Visual artist
Instrument(s)Vocals,piano,organ,harmonium,spoken word
WebsiteOfficial website

Chaim Moshe Tzadik Palestine(born 1947), known professionally asCharlemagne Palestine,is an American visual artist and musician.[1][2]He has been described as being one of the founders of New York school ofminimalist music,first initiated byLa Monte Young,Terry Riley,Philip Glass,Steve Reich,Robert Moran,andPhil Niblock,although he prefers to call himself amaximalist.[3]

Formational years

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Born in Brooklyn, New York in 1947, Palestine began by singing sacredJewish musicand studyingaccordionand piano. At the age of 12 he started playing backupcongaandbongo drumforAllen Ginsberg,Gregory Corso,Kenneth Anger,andTiny Tim.[4]From 1962 to 1969, Palestine wascarillonneurfor theSaint Thomas Episcopal Churchin Manhattan,[1]eventually creating a piece that consisted of 1,500 15-minute performances.

From 1968 to 1972, Palestine studied vocal interpretation withPandit Pran Nath,[4]experimented on kinetic light sculptures withLen Lye,composed music forTonyandBeverly Conrad’s filmComing Attractions,taught atCalArtswithMorton Subotnick,[4]created the sound and movement pieceIlluminationswithSimone Forti,and developed his own alternativesynthesizer:theSpectral Continuum Drone Machine.

Throughout the seventies Palestine created records, videos, sculptural objects, abstract expressionist visual scores, and performed long piano concerts regularly in his loft onNorth Moore Street[5]in Tribeca in the company of his bevy of stuffed animals.[6]From 1980 to 1995, Palestine performed only rarely, exhibiting instead atStedelijk Museum,Amsterdam; theModerna Museet,Stockholm; and indocumenta8. During that time, he also founded the Ethnology Cinema Project in New York, which is dedicated to preserving films that document disappearing traditional cultures.

After moving to Europe in 1995, he settled inBrussels.[7]In addition to creating exhibitions, Palestine performed regularly, re-releasing older material and developing new videos and sonic projects.[8]

Selected discography: solo works

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  • Body Music1973[9]
  • "Strumming Music". Shandar, 1974.
  • Karenina.2 CDs. Solo performance with Indian harmonium andfalsettovoice, rec. March 1997 in Paris. London: World Serpent Distribution.
  • Schlingen-Blängen.Solo performance for organ. US: New World Records, 1999.
  • Four Manifestations on Six Elements.Solo pieces for piano and for electronics. Belgium: Barooni Records.
  • Godbear.Solo pieces for piano. Belgium: Barooni Records.
  • Strumming Music.Solo piece for piano. Felmay, San Germano, Italy, 1995; reissue of New Tone recording nt6742
  • Three Compositions for Machines.Staalplaat, 1997.
  • Schlongo!!!daLUVdrone.Organ of Corti, 2000.
  • Jamaica Heinekens in Brooklyn.Piece for found sound and electronic drones. Belgium: Barooni Records.
  • Alloy.Alga Marghen, 2000.
  • Continuous Sound Forms.Alga Marghen, 2000.
  • Charlemagne at Sonnabend.2 CDs. CP, 2001.
  • Music for Big Ears.Staalplaat, 2001.
  • In Mid-Air.Alga Marghen, 2003.[10]
  • Old Souls Wearing New Clothes.VPRO, 2003.
  • A Sweet Quasimodo between Black Vampire Butterflies: For Maybeck.Cold Blue, 2007.
  • The Apocalypse Will Blossom.Yesmissolga, 2008.
  • Voice Studies.LP only. Alga Marghen, 2008.
  • From Etudes to Cataclysms.2 CDs. Sub Rosa, 2008.
  • "Relationship Studies". LP. Algha Marghen, 2010.
  • "Two Electronic Sonorities". LP. Algha Marghen, 2012.

Selected discography: collaborations

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  • Charlemagne Palestine and Pan Sonic.Mort aux vaches.Staalplaat, 2000.
  • Charlemagne Palestine, David Coulter and Jean Marie Mathoul.Maximin.Young God Records, 2002.
  • Charlemagne Palestine, David Coulter,Michael Giraand Jean Marie Mathoul.Gantse Mishpuchach / Music in Three Parts.Fringes Recordings, 2004.
  • Charlemagne Palestine andTony Conrad.An Aural Symbiotic Mystery.Sub Rosa,2006.
  • Charlemagne Palestine,Terry Jennings,Tony Conrad,Robert Feldman,Rhys Chatham.Sharing a Sonority.Alga Marghen, 2008.
  • Charlemagne Palestine andChristoph Heemann.Saiten in Flammen.Streamline,2009.
  • Charlemagne Palestine andJanek Schaefer.Day of the Demons.Desire Path Recordings, 2012.
  • Charlemagne Palestine andRhys ChathamYouuu + Mee = Weee.Sub Rosa,2014.

Art exhibitions

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Charlemagne Palestine, who has long incorporated bears and plush toys into his performances, created the art installation Bear Mitzvah in Meshugahland[11]atThe Jewish Museumin New York City in 2017.

References

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  1. ^abHickling, Alfred (4 March 2010)."Charlemagne Palestine – a man who plays the whole building".The Guardian.Retrieved14 December2015.
  2. ^Pontegnie, Annie (1 September 2002)."Charlemagne Palestine".Artforum International.Archived fromthe originalon 20 February 2016.Retrieved14 December2015.
  3. ^[1]Fifteen Questions Interview with Charlemagne Palestinein The Bare Maximum
  4. ^abcGray, Louise (1 September 2002). "Invisible Jukebox: Charlemagne Palestine".The Wire(223): 21–23.
  5. ^[2]Charlemagne PalestineThe Lower Depths
  6. ^[3]Piano Maximalism: Charlemagne Palestine’s Strumming MusicBy Danny Riley, 01 October 2017
  7. ^"How New York art and music pioneer Charlemagne Palestine found his way to Brussels".The Brussels Times.Retrieved2024-04-30.
  8. ^Guzman, Antonio (April 1, 2004).Sacred Bordello: Charlemagne Palestine.London: Black Dog Publishing.ISBN978-1901033793.
  9. ^Ira Schneider, Beryl Korot -Video art: an anthology 1976 - - Page 249 "Palestine, in an early tape entitled Body Music, produced a fixed-camera recording of his performance piece, during which he developed a progression of body sounds while moving in an ever-expanding spiral toward the edges of the gallery..."
  10. ^Marley, Brian (1 June 2003). "Charlemagne Palestine: In Mid-Air".The Wire(232): 67–68.
  11. ^"Charlemagne Palestine's Bear Mitzvah in Meshugahland".The Jewish Museum.Retrieved2017-04-04.

Bibliography

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  • Johnson, Tom (1989).The Voice of New Music: New York City 1972–1982: A Collection of Articles Originally Published by theVillage Voice.Eindhoven, Netherlands:Het Apollohuis.ISBN90-71638-09-X.
  • Palestine, Charlemagne (2004).Sacred Bordello.Book with CD. Milan: Alga Marghen.
  • Voegelin, Salome.Listening to Noise and Silence: Towards a Philosophy of Sound Art.London: Continuum. 2010. Chapter 2Noise,pp. 50–52.

Further reading

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