Canyon Candy is a site-specific installation and immersive soundscape bringing to life a Western-themed music video collaboration between filmmaker Mike Anderson and the band Javelin.
The Clocktower’s Canyon Candy exhibition features the debut screening of a 16-minute film by Mike Anderson, the result of a year-long collaboration between the artist and the band Javelin. Spaghetti westerns, cowboy fashion, and the sights and sounds of the Wild West inspired the band to create a themed song suite released on 7-inch vinyl. Anderson's installation at the Clocktower transports the viewer into the set of the film through a sprawling installation in the Main Gallery. Beginning with an entrance through a wind-washed cabin, followed by a winding walk in the canyon’s termite hills and cactus fields, visitors will encounter coyotes, campsites, big sky, and vignette sequences from the film. All paths lead to a saloon-style theater space featuring the full Canyon Candy film – the ideal cowboy den after a long walk through the canyon, complete with strawbale seating, gingham tablecloths, and sasparilla. For the exhibition, Javelin has created a multi-channel surround-sound environment embedded in Anderson’s set, both recreating the film's ambience and animating the canyon’s vistas through sound effects including crickets, howling winds, and yodeling.
Organized by Alanna Heiss, Curator; Joe Ahearn, Director of Installation, and David Weinstein, Producer.
Canyon Candy is part of the Clocktower Gallery’s Music Video Program, launched in March 2011 with Collapse Into Now Film Project, organized by Michael Stipe of the band R.E.M. The program aims to address the many intersections between music and art production, and to immerse the viewer in both the processes and mythical environments created by these intersections. Taking music and set production as starting points, the viewer is able to more fully experience the video or album, and further examine where these sparks may lead.
Led by George Langford and Tom Van Buskirk, Javelin is a Brooklyn-based music, audio art, and visual art duo that has toured internationally at numerous venues and art institutions, including the Museum of Modern Art and the Whitney Museum. Signed to David Byrne’s record label Luaka Bop in 2010, Javelin has since released the critically acclaimed album No Mas. Javelin are best known as natural improvisers who are able to turn field-recorded and found sound samples into catchy melodies that are both dance songs and audio art.
Mike Anderson is a Brooklyn-based filmmaker and producer. Since his graduation from the Rhode Island School of Design, he has produced many films and music videos and collaborated with bands including Javelin, Callers, and Balmorhea. His work has been screened in numerous art, music, and film festivals including the Triple Threat Film Festival hosted simultaneously in Sydney, Berlin, and New York, as well as the Newport Folk Festival.
