Art Conspiracy IV

The chilly weather couldn't stop Art Conspiracy 4 from taking place on Saturday evening; in fact, it only served to keep the Red Stripe colder, and the crowd friendlier as we all kept huddled together near the few scattered patio heaters.

The Chameleon Chamber Group used their midi controllers and electric instruments alongside traditional strings to bring a new twist to popular classical pieces. Surreal and futuristic, the synth-heavy quartet evoked an aural nostalgia for A Clockwork Orange. The only non-classical piece, The Beatles' Because didn't sound out of place at all among the rest of the set-- after all, it received the Chameleon Chamber's usual cheesy-yet-always-terrific-treatment.

Aton's performance can best be described with this video.

The Mount Righteous took the stage shortly after our favorite painting (Andrea Roberts' piece) was caught in a fierce-but-friendly bidding war (SubEx did not win, sigh). Even in the cold, Mount Righteous was able to fill the empty warehouse on Gulden with copious amounts of warmth. The band was able to shake things up a bit, opening with a version of Sea Man in an unfamiliar meter that managed to keep the audience on its collective toes. The band played a very tight set and most of those packed into the venue seemed to be digging it. The only semi-somber moment in the set came when Mount Righteous bass drummer/organizer Joey Kendall announced that guitarist/accordionist Justin Spike would be leaving the group to focus on his other project Har Herrar.

"It's a sad thing, but it's a happy thing," he proclaimed before leading the crowd in a "Good-BYE Jus-tin" chant, and dedicating Living to Succeed to his fellow band mate.

After the announcment, the lyrics of Spike-penned tune had new significance. The line "I'll be leavin', I'll be leavin,' I've got everything to see..." was never more apropos and sincere than it was Saturday night.

Their performance went out with a bang, however, with members of the band jumping off the stage and ending their set dispersed amongst the crowd.

After Mount Righteous left the stage, the most intense bidding for art took place, with several pieces going for $200-$300 (and some higher). SubEx once again had its eye on the terrific piece by Mount Righteous percussionist Nicole Marxen, but alas we are just bloggers and not multi-hundredaires.

After this event, I have to sing the praises of Art Conspiracy. First and foremost, the organization does amazing things for the community, in terms of supporting arts and new media education in the Dallas area. But on top of their philanthropy, they allowed us to freeze our asses off in an abandoned warehouse somewhere in the seedy part of downtown Dallas, and have an amazing time doing it. So often it's easy to focus on the Dallas numbed by Botox, the Dallas that charges $9 for a beer or the Dallas erecting condos on top of mom 'n pop businesses. Art Conspiracy reminded us this town is not yet creatively bankrupt. We've got a lot of talent here, and we're not afraid to use it.

Some great photos from the event (below) are taken by the newest SubEx contributor/photographer extraordinaire, Laura Sliva.

-Cory & Mikey-

*note: click on images to enlarge