Z'EV

Z'EV (born Stefan Joel Weisser , at 7:58 a.m. on February 8, 1951 in Los Angeles, California) is an American text-sound artist and mystic who is perhaps best known for his work as a catacoustic (reflected sound-based) percussionist.

He has worked as a professional musician since 1963, and is regarded as a pioneer of industrial musicsee "Industrial Culture Handbook"] In 2008, Colombian critic Edgar Mauricio Ramirez Diaz [ " [http://www.panoramajournal.blogspot.com/] " ] described him as “Without a doubt one of the most influential persons in the whole post-industrial history of contemporary music.”

His work with both text and sound has been influenced by the Middle Eastern mystical system best known as Kabbalah (although not of the Jewish variety), as well as - but not limited to - African, Afro-Caribbean and Indonesian rhythms, musics and cultures. He has studied Ewe (Ghana) music, Balinese gamelan, and Indian tala.

z'ev requestscite web|author=Dmitri Kolesnik|year=1999|month=06|title=Z’EV – Acoustic Phenomenae|work=Drugie Here|url=http://drugie.here.ru/achtung/new/zevint_e.htm|accessdate=2008-07-25] that people note either "Z'EV" or "z'ev" are acceptable typographies for his "brand name" (context depending), but that "Z'ev" most emphatically is not.

Biography

After studying at CalArts with poet Emmett Williams, he produced works using the name S. Weisser, primarily concentrating on visual and sound poetries. In 1975, he was included in the "Second Generation" show at the Museum of Conceptual Art in San Francisco.

Beginning in the early 1970s, he developed a personal technique utilizing self-developed instruments formed from industrial materials such as stainless steel, titanium, and PVC plastics. Initially these instruments were assemblages of these materials, used with a movement-based performance style that was a form of marionette, although with the performer visible. He has since come to refer to this performance mode as 'wild-style', a term originally related to graffiti. . Critic John Buckley [ John Buckley, "New York Rocker", Issue #30, July-August 1980, p.51" ] described his performances in this era:

:The instruments are collections of objects ... strung together with ropes and swung at varying speeds and directions to produce a fairly astonishing range of pitches and timbres. And the moves the guy goes through to manipulate these instruments are, for grace and athleticism, strong stuff. Z'EV is also interesting for the close correlation of visual and musical aspects, since the physical vibrations of the objects you see are the same as those picked up by the ears as sound. Also, since the rhythms of the work are dictated by the performer's every and any movement, an inevitable integrity unifies the act.

During the mid-70s he began performing under the name Z'EV, which comes from the Jewish name his parents gave him at birth (Sh'aul Z'ev bn Yakov bn Moshe bn Sha'ul).

In November and December 1980, Z'EV opened a series of UK and European concerts in the first headlining tour of the British group Bauhaus.cite web|author=Chris Toenes|date=2007-05-16|title=Sound artist Z’EV’s long, lonely path to innovation|work=Indyweek.com|url=http://www.indyweek.com/gyrobase/Content?oid=153968|accessdate=2008-07-18]

On that tour and his first solo tour of Europe immediately afterwards, Z'EV introduced intense metal based percussion musics to the UK and Europe. Critic Jason Pettigrew (current editor-in-chief of "Alternative Press Magazine") attests to Z'EV's pioneering use of metal found object as percussion, writing: "Consider your music collection. Neubauten? Test Department? Z’EV’s been there first.’ [ "Alternative Press, Issue #59, June 1993, p.35" ]

While but one of the progenitors of the "industrial movement", he was also fairly solely responsible for delivering the ‘tribal’ impulse and esthetic into the Western/European cultural milieu developing between the years 1978-1984.Fact|date=February 2008

In 1981, 'Shake Rattle & Roll', a VHS video documenting his first wild-style performance on the East coast (produced by video artist John Childs), was released by Fetish Records in the UK and was the first ‘music’ / art video to be commercially released.

In 1982, Z'EV was part of an ensemble for the performance and recording of composer Glenn Branca's "Symphony No. 2 (The Peak of the Sacred)". [ [http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&token=&sql=10:avfoxqygldte allmusic ((( Symphony No. 2 (The Peak of the Sacred) > Overview ))) ] ]

Since 1984, he has been concentrating on performing in a more traditional mallet-percussion style, albeit with highly idiosyncratic and "extended" mallet percussion techniques and his self-made or adapted instruments.

Both performance modes, (wild-style and mallet percussion), have been described [Ken Winokur, "Art New England", Volume 1 #7, June 1980, p.27] as cacophonous when considered in traditional Western musical terms, because of the dense elemental acoustic phenomena Z'EV's instruments produce. In point of fact, Z'EV doesn't actually considercite web|author=Glenn Dixon|date=2007-05-24|title=A Sound Experience: Z’EV’|work=Express Night Out|url=http://expressnightout.com/content/2007/05/a_sound_experience.php|accessdate=2008-07-21] the results as "music" "per se", but more as orchestrations of highly rhythmic acoustic phenomena.

It is also worth noting that Z'EV does not consider his performances as solos, but rather as the unique inter-reactions between himself and his instruments; the particular physical space of the performance; the particular time and geographic location of the performance; and the energies of the audience. While the first two traits will of course remain the same, a change in any of the last three will result in a totally different performance.

In 1990 he began working with Amsterdam House Musician, DJ Dano. Their work, also in conjunction with Austrian media artist Konrad Becker, was instrumental in the emergence of the genres known as Gabber and Hard Core.Fact|date=February 2008

His recordings have been released by labels such as C.I.P., Cold Spring, Die Stadt, Soleilmoon, Tzadik Records, Subterranean and Touch.

Z'EV spends as much time as possible in Peckham, England with Conceptual Artist Barbara Steveni and is contactable at: rhythmajik {at} yahoo {dot} com.

A selection of works

. Weisser

"Audience performances"
*17 March 1969: "The Mountain Looked At The Mountain…And Slipped Away To Sea", half the audience saying; “the mountain looked”, and the other half; “at the mountain” Language Events” Show California State College, Long Beach
*14 March 1975: "Book Of Love Being Written As They Touched", based on the 40.320 permutations of this sentence, “Second Generation” Show, Museum of Conceptual Art, San Francisco
*19 March 1976: "Instill", for 4 voices and tape replay, Theatre Vanguard, Los Angeles
*19 September 1977: "Oomoonoon: Dancing On The Brink Of The Word #1", 3 hour tape installation beginning with three 3 minute loops of 3 voices each - their ambience was recorded and every 45 minutes the loop replaced; total voice accumulation progression: 9-15-27-51 voices, Umunhum Room - California State University at San Jose
*19 November 1977: "Spatial Poetics", live mix for taped voices, the first west coast international sound poetry festival, La Mamelle, San Francisco
*25 november 1977: "Sound Of Wind And Limb", for mallet percussion, Works Gallery, San Jose
*29 March 1978: "Oomoonoon: Dancing On The Brink Of The Word #2", tape mix for 18 voices, Umunhum Room - California State University, San Jose

"Gallery Presentations"

One person
*Beyond Baroque Foundation, Venice, CaliforniaGroup
*CSU Sacramento, California
*La Mamelle, San Francisco, California,
*And/Or, Seattle, Washington
*Union Gallery, CSU San Jose, California"Visual Publications"
*Art Contemporary nr. 2
*LAICA Journal nr. 7, August/September 1975
*Synapse, 1976
*Intermedia, 1976
*La Mamelle nr 1, nr 2 [front and rear covers] 1976, 1977
*Dumb OX, 1977
*Imagezine nr. 3, 1977
*Panache, 1978"Audio Publications"
*Audiozine #2 - Art Contemporary Publications, San Francisco, California
*Audio Editions – Union Gallery, CSU San Jose
*Poextensions & Contexts – Subterranean Records, San Francisco, California
*Editeditions & Contexts – Subterranean Records, San Francisco, California"Inclusions"
*Archives of California Art – Oakland Museum of Art
*Contemporary Art Archives - La Mamelle Inc.
*Artist Book Collection – Otis Art Institute, Los Angeles

uns

"Audience performances"
*17 March 1980, "Aldo’s Bar (Life Sentence)", for voice, organ and tape mix, Aldo’s Bar, Broadway, San Francisco
*12 Februari 1981, "Says", for voice and 2 skipping turntables, Savoy Tivoli, San Francisco
*1 June 1982, "Past 2 Days", for voice and 2 skipping turntables, Martinson hall, Public Theatre, New York City
*19 September 1982, "Save The What?", for voice and tape mix, Het apollohuis, Eindhoven, The Netherlands

Z’EV

"Audience performances"
*12 November 1980, "Metal Bizondere Plastik", for moving metals and mallet percussion, Fountainzaal, Melkweg, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
*22 June 1982, "Elemental Music", for moving metals and mallet percussion, Documenta 7, Kassel, West Germany
*6 December 1982, "The Light Of Metal Sounding – for Jackson Maclow", for moving metals, The Language/Noise Series, Martinson Hall, Public Theatre, New York City
*12 February 1985, "Pieces", performance/installation for moving metal and mallet percussion, Rijksmuseum Kroller Muller, Otterloo, The Netherlands
*10 June 1985, "Beautiful Music", for mallet percussion, Kleine Zaal, Het Concertgebouw, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
*1 March 1986, "Lightning Music", for mallet percussion, Art and Alchemy Show, Name Gallery, Chicago, Illinois.
*16 June 1987, "Following In The Footsteps", music for dance, for superball mallets, 18” bass drum & steel gongs, Dancer (footsteps): Ria Higler, Theatre school for new dance development , Amsterdam, The Netherlands
*28 April 1990, "Tattoo", for marching bass drum, Recommended Records Shop, London, England
*20 April 1990, "Opus 3", for moving metals, plastic and mallet percussion, De Duif, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
*31 October 1990, "Ghost Stories", for moving metals, plastics & concert bass drum, Wang Concert Hall, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
*28 November 2002, "With Sound Of Hands, (Inferno, Canto 3)", for mallet percussion, Kontakt 3 Festival, Cagliari, Italy
*27 July 2003, "Nuit Gestes", for amplified mallet percussion, Mimi Festival, Marsaille, France
*29 November 2003, "Noisome The Earth Is (Inferno, Canto 6)", for mallet percussion, Kontakt 4 festival, Cagliari, Italy
*2 December 2003, "So say the dead", mallet percussion accompaniment for Macbeth, Director: Bela Gruska, Sudden Theatre, Paris, France
*8 May 2004, "Zones", for mallet percussion, Undraverk Percussion Festival, Rekjavek, Iceland
*4 June 2005, "Yantra Tantra", mallet percussion in a pitch black room, Venn festival, Bristol, England
*23 July 2005, "Unto The Note Of Storks (Inferno, Canto 32)", for concert bass drum, stainless & titanium instruments, to accompany artist richi ferrero's, ultimedia event: La Citta' Di Sotto, Torino, Italy
*1,2,3 September 2005, "Black Pine Spin", for doppler shifting steel metal discs, discs property of Mark Anderson, Power Plant Show, Botanical Gardens, Oxford, England

Discography

* [http://www.discogs.com/artist/Z'EV Z'EV Discography]

Collaborators

Collaborators over the years include:

Artists

*Anne Bean (uk)
*Konrad Becker (at)
*Neil Megson (uk)
*Johanna Went (us)
*Richard Wilson (uk)
*Ellen Zweig (us)

Dancers

*Simone Forti (us)
*Ria Higler (nl)
*Salome Schneebelli (ch)
*Christina Svane (us)

Film makers

*Christine Koenigs (nl)
*Karen Mirza & Brad Butler (uk)
*Roberta Friedman (us)

Musicians

*Oren Ambarchi (au)
*DJ Dano (nl)
*Hans Joachim Irmler/Faust (de)
*David Jackman/Organum (uk)
*Francisco López (es)
*David Maranha + Patricia Machas (pt)
*BJ Nilsen (se)
*KK.Null (jp)
*Stephen O'Malley (us)
*Charlemagne Palestine (be)
*Ramona Ponzini (it)
*Peter Rehberg (at)
*Boyd Rice (us)
*Frans de Waard (nl)
*Chris Watson (uk)

Poets

*Doro Franck (nl)
*Gylan Kain (us)
*Lydia Lunch (us)
*Bryan Lewis Saunders (us)

References

*Zorn, John, ed. (2000). "Arcana: Musicians on Music". New York: Granary Books/Hips Road. ISBN 188712327X.

External links

* [http://www.rhythmajik.com/ Z'EV site]
* [http://firebreatherzine.blogspot.com/2007/04/zev-41907.html Audio interview (so with all the uhmms) Chicago 4.19.07]
* [http://drugie.here.ru/achtung/new/zevint_e.htm The definitive (as of 1999) interview with Dmitri Kolesnik]
* [http://wlt4.home.mindspring.com/adventures/articles/zev.htm Interview with Mike Hovancsek]
* [http://homepage.mac.com/mbettine/PercussionDiscussion/Z%27EV.html Interview USA tour 2007]
* [http://www.indyweek.com/gyrobase/Content?oid=153968 Interview USA tour 2007]
* [http://www.readexpress.com/read_freeride/2007/05/a_sound_experience.php Interview USA tour 2007]
* [http://atlanta.creativeloafing.com/gyrobase/Content?oid=241566 Interview USA tour 2007]
* [http://www.brainwashed.com/h3o/zev.html Collection of interviews with and writings by or about Z'EV]
* [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AVTYelzj1g4 Video of Z’EV live in Greensboro 5.21.07]
* [http://web.archive.org/web/20060513003741/http://rhythmajik.com/ Original Rhythmajik website as of 2004 courtesy of WAYBACK MACHINE]