@nytimes critic Martha Schwendener recommends “Jerry Hunt: Transmissions From the Pleroma” — the first institutional exhibition dedicated to the videos and sculptures of composer-performer Jerry Hunt, on view @blankforms_ through June 11th, 2022 — AND the accompanying publication, 'Partners: A Biography of Jerry Hunt' by Stephen Housewright. Schwendener writes: "Jerry Hunt (1943-93) was a lot of things: a 'virtuoso talker,' according to a new book devoted to the artist; a modern-day shaman who was a cross between a 1950s insurance salesman and the Beat writer William S. Burroughs; and an electronic music pioneer who lived in Texas but was better known in Europe. 'Transmissions From the Pleroma' at Blank Forms examines Hunt’s career, showcasing his videos, photographs of his outré performances, handwritten musical scores and enigmatic objects such as his totem-like 'wands,' made with the assemblage artist David McManaway. Born in Waco, Texas, Hunt was trained as a classical pianist and plied his craft everywhere, from jazz clubs to strip clubs. However, he once said, 'I might have given up on music altogether if it hadn’t been for John Cage and the new emphasis he gave to communication.' Cage’s experimental influence can be felt everywhere in Hunt’s work, from videos in which he carries on absurd conversations to musical scores that look more like abstract drawings. The curious 'wands,' often used in performances, cobble together sticks, old gloves and hardware parts. One deadpan video is titled 'How to Kill Yourself Using the Inhalation of Carbon Monoxide Gas' (1993). The work calls to mind the famous existentially tinged quote by the French writer Albert Camus: 'There is only one really serious philosophical problem, and that is suicide.' Hunt’s video adds to that proposition a consideration of everyone else who might be affected by that decision. Suicide, after all, as he stresses, involves more than the individual performer. #jerryhunt #TransmissionsFromthePleroma #jerryhuntbiography #blankforms #DavidMcManaway #StephenHousewright https://www.instagram.com/p/CbNrFpqL_fj/?utm_medium=tumblr
