One Art Event a Week: Osso, DM Stith and the BQE at the IMA

Week 33: Osso, DM Stith and Sufjan Stevens' "The BQE" at the Indianapolis Museum of Art

I honestly didn’t understand the connection between Osso, DM Stith, and Sufjan Stevens when I paid $10 for a ticket that billed all three acts last week. I just knew I missed my chance to see Sufjan in 2006 at the Murat Egyptian Room, and $10 seemed pretty cheap for such an event. Little did I know, I was in for a pleasant afternoon of music and film.

Osso, an all-female string quartet from New York, opened up the event by playing select pieces from Sufjan Stevens’ musical interpretation of the 12 animals of the Chinese zodiac, “Enjoy Your Rabbit.” Originally an electronic piece, a friend suggested to Sufjan that “Enjoy Your Rabbit” would make an interesting ensemble for a string quartet. And with that, “Run Rabbit Run” was created. Osso played five different pieces (if my memory is correct, they were odes to Monkey, Horse, Rabbit, Dragon, and Rooster). I don’t know much about the Chinese zodiac, but I did find it interesting that each piece was reminiscent of the animal for which it was written. I really thought this rang true with the Rooster piece, which was also my favorite.

DM Stith, label-mate and frequent collaborator of Sufjan Stevens, was up next. This actually ended up being the best part of the evening. Not only was DM Stith there to strum his guitar and sing, but Osso joined him on all of the songs, as well as a bass player, a drummer, and a three –piece horn section. Stith really reminded me of Thom Yorke from Radiohead (clearly an influence) with a voice sometimes reminiscent of Cat Stevens. His guitar-playing had a classical feel, and he performed without shoes the entire time. I had never heard DM Stith’s music until Sunday night; I loved the emotional intensity of his songs. In fact, I liked it so much that I went home and purchased the album on iTunes (and my sister did too, after I forwarded a link to his website). I also understand that DM Stith is from Bloomington, Indiana. I was kind of hoping that Sufjan Stevens would join DM Stith on a few of his songs; alas, this wish was not granted.

Last up was the film by Sufjan Stevens, “The BQE,” a piece of work commissioned by the Brooklyn Academy of Music. He could choose to film anything he wished; he chose a stretch of road in New York called the Brooklyn Queens Expressway. Stevens spent 9 months filming the BQE from the side of the road, apartments, buildings and other streets. It seems like such an un-inspiring project to me; really, an expressway? But when I heard Sufjan talk about traveling this stretch of road daily, I kind of understood his need to look deeper into such an every day, mundane thing. In the film, images of cars, trucks, motorcyclists and buildings flash by, moving like armies of ants along the BQE. The destination is never revealed to the viewer; only that everything is always on the go. These images of transportation were juxtaposed with images of a team of 3 hula hoop girls. During the Q&A period after the film, when asked why he chose to use hula hoop girls with the BQE, Sufjan’s response was that the city is so linear with its vertical buildings and horizontal traveling surfaces that he felt the addition of circular imagery balanced the piece. Honestly, the best part about the film was Sufjan’s soundtrack. The music was a beautiful sweeping piece that included orchestral arrangements with electronic beats. In its original form, the soundtrack was played live by orchestra at the Brooklyn Academy of Music while the film was projected above the musicians’ heads. I think that would have been amazing to hear.

To find out where I'll be the next couple of weeks, click here. Most of the events are free!