Jeremy Deller | What Would Neil Young Do?

When we co-hosted a retrospective of Jeremy Deller’s work with the Art Gallery of York University, Mercer Union produced two ephemeral projects with the artist: a bumper sticker that read GOD LESS AMERICA and a take-away poster that asked WHAT WOULD NEIL YOUNG DO? 

Together, they suggest that the latter’s inspiration was the What Would Jesus Do? bumper sticker or bracelet. This was my assumption, and I never asked. 

But later I learned that this story by Asylum Records founder and Neil Young manager Elliot Roberts  has made the rounds in classic rock circles: 

"It’s funny. Neil and I used to have this joke- whenever we were asked to do anything: a commercial, even a TV show- I would say to Neil, “What would Bob Dylan do?” From like, the very beginning. That’s how we made our decisions. And years later I’m managing Bob, and some decision came up, he turns to me and goes, “What would Neil do?”

So it’s possible Deller read a Neil Young biography and it prompted the poster. Elliot Roberts also managed Joni Mitchell, adding another detail to Cecilia Berkovic’s response work WHAT WOULD JONI MITCHELL DO? 

This entry continues one made over 14 years ago (yeesh) using social media posts to trace how these posters ended up the world. I’m glad to see them in more bedrooms, bathrooms, recording studios and record stores, than art galleries. 

See the original post here and send me pictures if you have a copy. We eventually got one to Neil Young, when curator Anthony Kiendl included my work and a project by Daniel Lanois in his Nuit Blanche zone (Lanois had just produced Young’s Le Noise LP). 

Daniel Olson | 12!:Factorial 12

Daniel Olson

12!:Factorial 12

Toronto, Canada: Self-published, 1997

Each somewhat unique, dimensions vary. 

Edition size unknown

The twelve tones of the western chromatic scale (A thru G, with 5 flats/sharps) are represented by children's coloured toy xylophone keys, housed in a foam-lined signed and dated cigar box. A text on the inner lid explains that the work can produce 479,001,600 different twelve-note melodies (octave and rhythmic variations would add endless variation). The work functions nicely as a desk-top multiple or performance sound piece.

I included the work in an exhibition I curated for Mercer Union called Infinity Etc., about twenty years ago. Olson performed the work during the opening. 

Multiples Pop-Up Shop

 

In Toronto there’s a tight-knit community of publishers interested in editions. Today, several of us are presenting a pop-up shop at MKG127, from noon to six. Participants include Paul+Wendy Projects, Slow Editions, GuyGuyGuy, Alicia’s Klassic Kool Shoppe, Jimmy Limit & Maggie Groat and our own Nothing Else Press. 

For several years the Toronto Art Fair accommodated publishers of artists’ books and multiples but this stopped during Covid, and hasn’t returned. So this event harkens back to something four of us (along with Bywater Brothers) hosted years ago at G Gallery. 

Whether you’re doing some last minute Christmas shopping (or Christmas shopping), or nearby enough to stop in and say hello, please drop by. There will be things available for every price range, including risographed zines, rubber stamps, t-shirts,  tote-bags, hats, scarves, postcards, prints, pins, clocks, sculpture, stickers, ceramics, cards, etc. etc. 

Hope to see you there. 

Thanks to Masanao Hirayama [Himaa] for the graphics, Michael Klein for the space, Panya Clark Espinal for altering her beautiful exhibition today to accommodate us, Mercer Union for the tables and Micah Lexier for handling most of the organization, despite only participating in an unofficial capacity. 

Michael Snow Tribute #4: Mercersound

[Various Artists] 

Mercersound

Toronto, Canada: Mercer Union, 2005

Audio CD, 12.4 × 14.3 cm.

Edition of 1000

When I was the Director of Programming and Publications at Mercer Union I compiled this CD of artists' audio to be distributed at the 51st Venice Biennale, in June of 2005. The disk included works by Yoko Ono, Martin Creed, Laurel Woodcock, Thurston Moore, Mathew Sawyer, Jonathan Monk, Kelly Mark, David Cunningham (of the Flying Lizards), Christian Bök, and others. Michael Snow's contribution is very short work from two years prior, called Elevator Music. 

Many of the other contributors have ties to Snow. Yoko Ono cites his 1967 film Wavelength as hugely influential to her work, describing it as "an incredibly beautiful film. A revolution in itself really."

Thurston Moore is also a fan. I saw Snow's band CCMC open for Sonic Youth at a Warehouse show in 1998. I worried that their free-jazz approach - fronted by sound poet Paul Dutton - might not go down so well with pop music audiences, even a band with avant-garde pedigree like Sonic Youth. But before their set, Moore took to the stage and asked the audience to give CCMC their full attention.  Such is the respect for Sonic Youth's curation, that the room fell silent. They pay rapt attention to a performance they might've otherwise talked through, impatiently waiting for the headline act. On the tourbus afterwards, several Sonic Youth members brought out books for Michael to sign. 

I don't know if Christian Bök had a professional relationship with Snow, but he was there the first time I met Michael, at a dinner after a performance at Nathan Philips Square. 

Jonathan Monk had a two-person exhibition with Snow at Jessica Bradley's gallery. It was accompanied by a reception event that Mercer Union co-presented, though I can't recall what the pair did. Unless I'm conflating it with another event, Jonathan served drinks from behind the bar. 

The top image above is from the MoMA website, who have the disk in their library collection. The second is a scan of the inner CD tray card, from Discogs.  With no funds to hire a designer, I typed the track listing on an old typewriter whose ribbon would occasionally jog from black to red. The final image is from my archive of the original CDs used to compile the disk. 

Michael Snow would often attend openings and receptions at Mercer Union, with his partner Peggy Gale. On more than one time a visiting artist would be beside himself with joy at the realization that the legendary Michael Snow was attending his exhibition. 

"In 2003, a curator at the Reina Sofia Museum in Madrid asked me to do an installation in one of the building elevators which are beautifully glass-enclosed on the facade of the very old building (17th century?). I proposed "Elevator Music", which was to play in one of the elevators. There was to be a computer program that would sustain a single note as the elevator opened, then would resume the piece as the rose or descended. The duration of the two parts of the piece are how long it takes to rise or to descend in the elevator without stops at any other floors. I went to Madrid to work on it, but bureaucratic arguments over who had the right to what where in the museum finally cancelled it". 

- Michael Snow

MERCER MULTIPLIER

Tomorrow night Mercer Union hosts the second iteration of a fundraiser called Mercer Multiplier. Earlier in the year the gallery invited twenty-five artists to submit a digital file which they then had printed at Toronto Image Works, in editions of five. At least one artist contributed unique drawings.

Tickets are priced at $175 each, which entitles the buyer to one of the editions. The preview begins at 6pm, and at 7:00, the draw is held, which determines the order of selection. Those hoping to improve their chances of 'first pick' are encouraged to purchase a Collector 3 Pack for $500.

Along with TIW, the event is sponsored by Superframe, who are offering substantial discounts on having the works framed, along with a donation to the gallery. 

Participating artists include: Diane Borsato, FASTWÜRMS, Public Studio, Derek Liddington, Laurie Kang, Jennifer Rose Sciarrino, Krista Buecking, Jon Sasaki, Zin Taylor, Liz Knox, Jean-Paul Kelly, Alvin Luong, Maggie Groat, Terrarea (Janis Demkiw, Emily Hogg, Olia Mishchenko), Lorna Mills, Oliver Pauk, Jillian K Ross, Lili Huston-Herterich, Daniel Barrow, Geoffrey Pugen, Jason Gowans, Marla Hlady, and Svea Ferguson.

To purchase tickets call 416.536.1519.

Mercer Union, a centre for contemporary art
1286 Bloor Street West (one block east of Lansdowne TTC Station)
Toronto, Ontario, CANADA M6H 1N9
www.mercerunion.org

Mercer Union Auction

Tonight at 6pm Mercer Union hosts it's biannual fundraising auction, Stellar Living. Tickets are $90 and include food & bar throughout the auction plus a one-year Associate Membership. Absentee bids can be made online.

Participating artists include:

Abbas Akhavan, Stephen Andrews, Jeremy Bailey, Nadia Belerique, Raymond Boisjoly, Adam David Brown, Anthony Burnham, Sarah Cale, Tammi Campbell, James Carl, Ulysses Castellanos, Georgia Dickie, Dave Dyment, Marcel Dzama, Scott Everingham, Geoffrey Farmer, Robert Fones, Sky Glabush, Martin Golland, Neil Harrison, Colleen Heslin, Aryen Hoekstra, Patrick Howlett, Lili Huston-Herterich, Jeremy Jansen, Kelly Jazvac, Laurie Kang, Garry Neill Kennedy, Karen Kraven, Tiziana La Melia, Nicolas Lachance, Kristiina Lahde, Suzy Lake, Micah Lexier, An Te Liu, Vanessa Maltese, Jenine Marsh, John Massey, Sanaz Mazinani, John Monteith, Gareth Moore, Monique Mouton, Jennifer Murphy, Nick Ostoff, Ryan Park, Roula Partheniou, Ed Pien, Sasha Pierce, Jade Rude, Public Studio (Elle Flanders & Tamira Sawatzky), Derek Sullivan, Monica Tap, Zin Taylor, Jeff Tutt, Allison Tweedle, VSVSVS, Joy Walker, Shirley Wiitasalo, and Laurel Woodcock.

For details visit:

http://stellar.mercerunion.org