Laminography!

Sound Art Pioneer In Rare Performance/Exhibitions

(PRWEB) March 11, 2004 -- What is it about lamination that transforms an ordinary scrap of paper into something official, something important, even something mysterious? Ken Montgomery -- Sound Art pioneer, hero of the 1980s Sound Art scene, recording artist and noisician," -- has devoted quite a bit of time to exploring just this question. The result is the Ministry of Lamination.

Opening Reception and Cake Lamination Ritual Saturday March 20, 4-7PM "Laminography: It's Not a Piece of Cake," by Ken Montgomery at the Hudson Guild Gallery II (119 Ninth Ave. NY, NY between 17th and 18th Streets)

Since the early 1980s, with roots in Mail Art and Cassette Culture networking, Montgomery has been finding novel ways to work with sound: from octophonic audio installations performed in total darkness to laminating. Montgomery has performed at The Whitney Museum, Roulette, Experimental Intermedia Foundation, The Kitchen, and P.S. 122. Among other honors, Montgomery was the 2003 Artists' Fellowship recipient of the New York Foundation for the Arts, and has been awarded residencies at SpritzenHaus in Hamburg, Germany and Harvestworks Studio P.A.S.S. in New York City.

The Ministry of Lamination grew from Montgomerys work as the founder of Generator, the internationally recognized Lower East Side store/gallery that served as a hub for Sound Art and noise experimentation. To support Generator, Montgomery worked in a photo lab where laminating services were provided. Each day he took discarded photographs out of the trash, cut them up and laminated them. I decided Generator should have a self-service lamination station for the public to experiment and play with," Ken says. People often associate lamination with commonplace, practical objects such as identification cards, menus or driver's licenses--most people carry a laminated card with them all the time. But when people have the chance to experiment with making their own laminations the results are inspiring." The next step was amplifying the laminator so people could hear the sound of their laminations.

Rarely does the art public have the opportunity to witness and experience the pioneers of influential art movements perform the acts which brought them their initial and continuing recognition. Fortunately, you can now see Montgomery laminating live at Hudson Guild Gallery in Chelsea (119 Ninth Ave. NY, NY between 17th and 18th Streets).

"Laminography: It's Not a Piece of Cake," is a retrospective of his work with the laminator and Lamination Rituals, running March 18 through April 13. On display will be highlights from the project going back to 1988. Also featured will be Lamination As a Virtual Metaphor," a short video produced and directed by Ken Montgomery and Andrea Beeman. Opening Reception and Cake Lamination Ritual Saturday March 20, 4-7PM. Cake Lamination Workshops for senior citizens and high school students, Thursday March 18.

Until then, you can hear The Sound of Bugles (the snack food) Being Laminated and see the official laminator and other selected laminations in Gen.R.8; a group exhibition exploring generative processes in artistic production," running from February 6 to March 20 at Gigantic ArtSpace located at 59 Franklin Street, NY, NY. (www.Giganticartspace.com)

Learn more about Ken Montgomery at his website, www.MinistryofLamination.com

Press contact: Jason Moriber   
Wiselephant      
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Brooklyn, NY 11220   
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Email: Jason@wiselephant.com