Jaap Blonk and Damon Smith

October 22, 3PM

Please join us for a special performance by Jaap Blonk and Damon Smith live at Corbett vs. Dempsey. Dutch improvisor Jaap Blonk has been a crucial figure since the early 1980s in rethinking the significance of historical sound poetry in performance. To call what he does a "reading" is a grave misunderstanding – Blonk brings work from the canons of Dada, Fluxus, and Futurism to life by electrifying them, treating them as vital, even dangerous works of art. In this context, he will perform works by Kurt Schwitters, including the key Dadaist's masterwork "The Ursonate" (written between 1922 and 1932). Joining Blonk on this occasion is Damon Smith, an acclaimed St. Louis-based improviser who will be performing works from his fellow bassist, composer and Fluxus artist Ben Patterson. Starting in the hotbed of avant garde music in late-50s Cologne, Patterson went on to write ultra-radical pieces for upright bass, creating an extensive body of conceptual works, collages and assemblages, and persevering as one of the only African-American figures associated with Fluxus. Don't miss this rare opportunity to experience Schwitters and Patterson in person, performed by two of the seminal interpreters of their work.