The Alameda Art Center is showcasing the work of the East Oakland based “outsider” artist Phonic thee Bomber a.k.a. ***##**for the month of August. He has already earned notoriety within the Bay Area music scene as a DJ, musician and performer. His approach to the creative process is characterized by an emphasis on massive productivity combined with an uncompromising and unique style of delivery. His prolific output has resulted in the completion of literally thousands of original artistic/musical projects over the last decade.

His non-ironically titled exhibition "If Walls Could Talk These Would Curse", (mixed media on paper series), will be located in the studio annex from August 5-25. A portion of the sale of his work will be donated to Little Kids Rock in Oakland, a non-profit organization dedicated to bringing free musical instruments and music instruction to public school children. The exhibit will be open during the AAC's national juried exhibition, "Contemporary Abstracts", in the main gallery.

Both exhibitions are free to the public.

Show Dates: August 5-25
Opening Reception: First Friday, August 5, 6-8pm.


Artist Statement:
Phonic theE Bomber
Phonic's mixed media on paper series incorporates the use of materials largely purchased from his local community Walgreen's Drugstore or liberated from the office supply rooms of his former employers. He uses unconventional media such as “Liquid Paper”, toothpaste, packing tape, highlighters, spray paint and permanent felt tip markers to produce his work for the simple reason that these material are most commonly available environmentally. His work has been created with a complete disregard for commercial acceptance. Indeed it apparent that seeking acceptance by the “art establishment” or the garnering of critical approval has been of no concern to him in the creation of this body of work. These characteristics are consistent with the definition of "outsider art" in that he creates art purely for himself and his immediate community. The work materializes through the use of tools that are within his reach, validating the concept that the creation of art can be realized successfully with items that are readily and easily accessible to all with methods arrived at auto-didactically.

He samples and mixes elements and materials taken from his own immediate environment to create collages and pictures that typically resonate with energy and movement. It is obvious that the techniques he has picked up in the DJ world are being applied to the visual art that he creates.

A portion of the sale of his work to Little Kids Rock in Oakland, an organization in keeping with his mission of making art and music accessible to everyone. The mission of Little Kids Rock is based on the concept that music education is a transforming force in children's lives. The organization is dedicated to bringing free musical instruments and music instruction to public school children.


Biography
He was born in Manchester, England, and arrived in the United States in 1985. He entered UC Riverside as a freshman in 1986.

In 1986 he earned his FCC broadcasting license in 1986, which is still valid today. He auditioned successfully at KUCR 88.1fm, a college radio station with a signal that covered the entire Inland Empire and also much of Los Angeles County. At KUCR he hosted and formulated a popular prime time weekly 4hr music program, "King Shag's Variety Hour", for the next 5 years that featured everything from indie rock to Reggae.

In 1993 he relocated to Northern California where he co-established a DJ and sound production company called “ColliderScope”. Under this banner and also in his capacity as a founder of the pre-eminent down-tempo DJ crew, the “Magic Circle” he was responsible for organizing countless fiercely underground events and “happenings” that would routinely draw crowds ranging from two hundred to one thousand people in size over the next five years. His DJ sets were greatly influenced by his love of experimental, innovative and eclectic music and were often the high point of these events.

He also developed a successful secondary career as a club DJ using his massive personal record collection that today numbers well into the tens of thousands. He held residencies at some of the most well known club nights in San Francisco such as Club Universe, Asia SF, Club 181 and 177 Townsend. Ultimately he was selected as the official DJ for the X-Games, he has also opened for major groups such as Crystal Method and Parliament.

In 1996 John set up a new production company and web based record label called EzLuv, www.ezluv.org. He teamed up with Oakland based charity, Little Kids Rock and began promoting events characterized and informed by a love for all genre’s of music that were altruistic rather than profit oriented. The website features original music, DJ mixes, reviews, an events calendar and the bio's of the many DJ's, musicians and artists who have chosen to affiliate themselves with EzLuv over the years. The collective is one of the largest of its kind in the Bay Area and has at its heart a philosophy that emphasizes friendship and loyalty over all else.

The images found in my gallery originally came from either my cell phone camera or were appropriated from the World Wide Web. Where this is not the case I have tried to credit the source.

They are often manipulated either digitally or manually. Sometimes they are manipulated both digitally and manually.

In producing these images II am generally aiming to fulfill at least one of two objectives....

ONE

At a purely aesthetic level I try to create a psychoactive experience for the viewer by way of color selection, pattern, contrast. etc. I am influenced in this regard by the iridescent and inherently psychedelic qualities innate to materials such as mother of pearl, peacock feathers, mohair and orchids.

I will admit to "lysergic" influences too but only when artfully cornered...

You will never here me say that I took a lot of acid back in the day....that's for bloody sure! At a moral level I feel it is important to live down to ones reputation....n'est pas?

TWO

At a subjective level I try to accentuate the positive aesthetic of the images I use. For example when I use pornographic images as source material the end product is often less explicit.

I am more interested in love than lust.

I like lust an awful lot mind you...

I like to highlight the commitment, intelligence and trust necessary for the successful pursuit of hedonistic pleasure in an ethically responsible manner...

GRATUITOUS TANGENT

Above all else, I feel that it is important to live artfully whenever possible. Time and space make up our ultimate canvas. Our actions and the decisions that underly them are our most transcendent brush strokes.

Ahhhh the existential void beckons....

Make the best usage of your "God given" talents. Recognize that it is "human" though to be imperfect.

Life is a beautiful joke.

Laughing is the currency of happiness.

We are all going to die.

There are 3500 pictures in my gallery that represent a portion of my artistic output over the course of the last few years. Enjoy them and feel free to claim them as your own .... for free.

IP attorneys relinquish there credentials before entering heaven I am told, (well just "made up" to be truthful).

I am not a natural visual artist and envy those who are...

I am however prolifically average.

Transcendence is beautiful ....accidental, intentional or otherwise in my humble opinion.

Did I mention that I am the MOST modest?

The most be FAR in fact?

Admittedly I am biased towards myself mind you.

I digress...again....

In a nutshell though....

I am playing the "numbers game"....

Why?

Cos....

I can't do what ten people tell me to so ... I guess I will remain the same.

Plus it is the only option available to me...

Git down.

Thank You Otis and thank you Punk Rock.

Champagne to all my friends
Real pain to all my enemies
I love my family....

Phonic theE Bomber

FINAL THOUGHT

Art?

The best example of visual art is all around you...

all the time...

It costs you nothing....

You can check it out right now instead of reading this drivel...

Go ahead....

Swivel your eyeballs left and right ....

Bingo there it is.....

Check it out....

Notice...

It's 3D and animated....

Constantly changing...

Totally trippy....

Lets agree to call it ....

REALITY.

What about abstract art you ask...?

You clever so and so...

Not into the photo realistic huh?

Descartes is your co-pilot perhaps...

Well go grab a q tip cos...

The ultimate abstract art is also all around you...

if you care to tune into it

Y'dig?...

It is often referred to...

in the world of Englishmen....

as MUSIC.

C'mon!

Forget cubism

and the Jungian overtones of abstract expressionism for a moment...

MUSIC is so abstract that....

It is invisible and travels through the air in the form of "waves".

It enable telepathy for heavens sake....

You know.....

The crowd goes wild at the end of the drum solo...

Collectively...

The blues sounds sad...

no matter who or where you are

no matter whether you have ever heard it before...

We can experience music together....

As ONE.



Mark E Smith once wisely reminded us...

about the "Psychic dancefloor"

so....

STEP FORWARD.

Cos we don't need no "cosmic shit"

LETS GET THIS THING TOGETHER.




disclaimer...

The above may all be completely wrong.

...If you find the history, evolution or science of "Sound Systems" and the evolving "culture" thereof to be "interesting" or "engaging".

I use this "TRIBE" as a repository for any info/pix/stories/anecdotes/factoids on this subject. In the topics section you will find mostly articles etc that I come across during the course of my day to day research in this subject area. I compliment this with some editorial scribblings of my own....if compliment is the right word.

Very heavy on content.
Not so social.
Mediated with OCD overtones by yrs truly
Joe Bob Briggs says...
"Two nipple whippings, one tweeter rape, gratuitous TURBO pornography, crossover infantilism, full frontal PA fetish play on display.....I give it 4 boobs......CHECK IT OUT."

HIP HOP

Lady Sovereign - Vertically Challenged (Sri Lankan Guerilla propaganda mts London Grime)

The Coup - Pick a bigger weapon (epitaph) (Oakland/Vallejo's finest socialist Hip Hop outfit with prisitine modernistic production).

E-40 - My Ghetto Report card (Bringing the sound of HYPHY to the rest of the country)

Mylo - Destroy Rock and Roll

anything by Spank Rock ( Baltimore's finest) -(Dirty electro freaked raw hip hop with occasional Beach Boys Sample)

Hollertronix - various 12" singles

Missy "Misdemeanor" Elliott - various 12 " singles (This woman is a genius)

Edan - Fumbling over the words (Lewis) (the history of hip hop condensed into a single track over the funkiest of echoplexed beats)

Keek da Sneek (w/Dj Shadow) - 3 Freaks (Super stripped down electro/sound fx track with Oaklands own Keek da Sneek jabbering on atop.



SOUL AND FUNK

Darondo - Let my people go (Oakland pimp makes good with this set of impassioned Soul torch songs)

Jaheim - Ghetto Classics

Girl Group Sounds - Lost and Found box set - VA



ELECTRONIC

Richie Hawtin - DE : Transmissions

AFX - Chosen Lords

Tiga - Sexor

Gomagang #3 - VA

Fat Freddys Drop - Based on a true story

James Lidell - Multiply (warp)

Death in Vegas - Fabric live

Lindstrom and Prins Thomas - Prima Norsk Vol 3 (studio produced Italo disco inspired music from scandinavia)

A.R.E. Weapons - Free in the Streets

Betty Botox presents G4 Faggot - (simple raw disco electro tracks that somehow add up to more than the sum of their parts)

Alexander's Dark Band - 'Eponymous' - J Saul Kane aka The Octagon Man aka Depth Charge aka Founder of the epic DC Recordings takes on a new guise and returns to his earlier Depth Charge esque style of Electro/Downtempo/Dub inflected tunes. A truly amazing double album. Animal noises, analog synth groans, bird calls and Horror movie samples compete for yr attention against a backdrop of fierce Linn drum programming and ever changing sound sculptures.

Egyptian Lover - Platinum Pyramids ( A return to form from one of the progenitors of Electro)

Emperor Machine - first 3 releases on DC recordings (J Saul Kane's imprint) Disco/Moroderesque punk)

Will Powers - Adventures in Success (reissue) (Masterful Linn drum machine programming)



EXPERIMENTAL(post punk)

This Heat - eponymous


AFRICAN

Lagos Chop-up - VA (Honest Johns) With the exception of Ebenezer Obey, nearlly all the Nigerian musicians of the 60's thru the 80's on this comp are little known. Yet the endlessly inventive guitars, the horns and voices and, of course, the percussion are a revelation. The shit.

Geraldo Pina and the Heartbeats - Heavy Heavy Heavy (pre Fela - impossibly funky afro beat) Fela on Pina "This man was tearing Lagos to pieces. Wooooh man he had all of Nigeria in his pocket. This motherfucker had a devestating impact live. After seeing this Pino, I knew I had to get my shit together and quick!"


BRAZILIAN (post punk)

The Sexual life of the savages - VA (soul jazz)


BRAZILIAN (Tropicalia)

Tropicalia comp - VA (soul jazz)


ROCK

Sufjan Stevens - Illinois

Kate Bush - Aerial (double album of effortlessly innovative music from this always groundbreaking artist)

Maximum Joy - Unlimited (79 - 83)

Tom Robinson Band - Power in the Darkness (EMI) Gay Hard Rock band with biting political agenda from late 70's England

Cardinal - Eponymous (reissue) (the most beautiful harmonies you will ever hear).


REGGAE

Barrington Levy in dub - The lost mixes from King Tubby's studios (Best dub album you will hear all yr. If you liked "Big Showdown by Scientist and Jammy, you will love this album, the newest from Araulux Records. Featuring the ROOTS RADICS. Weak hearts will be bass shattered.


REGGAE/LAPTOP

DJ RUPTURE/KID 606 w/Sister Nancy - Little More Oil (soul jazz) (Just for the laptop glitchy dub mix on side 2)


SOUTH AMERICAN

Mas Rock and Roll - VA Valenzuelan comp that opens yr eyes to the other America's.


ELECTRO/DOWNTEMPO

Alexanders Dark Band - eponymous (Depth Charge new alias) (Effortlessly superb)

Dave Clarke (feat Chicks on Speed) - What was her name? (skint) (Rubbery Electro)

HOUSE

Ultimo Francisco - Ultimo (nature records)

VARIOUS - COMPILATIONS

Pillows and Prayer's
Cherry Red Records 82 - 83

This retrospective from small indie label "Cherry Red" records bears the statement "Pay no more than 99p" on the front cover. If you find this record for anything near that price as is still possible I might add consider yourself very luck. This is probably one of the strongest single label compilations ever released. It features some of the strongest material from....

Everything But the Girl (3 tracks total...Ben Watt solo, Tracy Thorn solo and the band together), Felt, Kevin Coyne, The Nightingales, The Marine Girls (one of Curt Cobains many pet indie fave bands) and the Monochrome Set. Also thrown in are two of the funniest spoken word diatribes ever committed to vinyl. Quentin Crisp (The Naked Civil Servant) makes like Oscar Wilde and delivers "Stop the music for a minute" to close out the record. The Orb sampled this diatribe as I recall...Also Attilla the Stockbroker etches the air with his detailed observations about the tawdry lives innercity living, glue sniffing 12 yr olds.

But the coup de grace has to be Joe Crow's stunning slab of proto electro "Compulsion". So sleek, so economical and beyond melancholy this song features a single chord change over the course of its primitive synthesized life. In spite of this or maybe because of this it attains a perfection in color, tonality and feel that Depeche Mode spent an entire career aspiring towards. Indeed, as I recall Martin Gore did a note for note eerily identical cover of this track on his otherwise drab "Counterfeit" album.

A truly amazing little label and a perfectly compiled compilation, make this record (also reissued on CD) essential. Particularly if you have any interest in learning about what was going on in the indie music world of the UK circa early "80's.

www.youtube.com/theebomber

MY YOUTUBE CHANNEL......

Lotsa chills, thrills, laughs, giggles, shockers, rockers, chin strokers and head scratchers.

The PLAYLISTS break the most compelling content into various categories. Bands, Sports, Stunts, Counter Culture etc.

Anything marked "Image" on my home page is an original piece of artwork.

Anything marked "Video" is (as you might well have guessed) a short video.

I have minimized the "imagery" that opens upon arriving at the front page of the profile to make it easier to download via dial up and much faster with broadband.

You might find ads on the right side of the page. If you don't like them (as I don't) try using Netscape Navigator or Mozilla. They allow you to suppress this content. On my computer this happened automatically but you may need to go into options.

The video's are hosted on YOU TUBE.

"Images" when maximized can be further enlarged by looking to the right of the image and selecting the enlarge option.

"Videos" when expanded are small playable video's of me that are hosted on YOU TUBE. If you double click on the image when expanded it will re-direct you over to YOU TUBE where the video resides natively.

There are many more if you are interested. Below is a link to that site.

www.youtube.com/theebomber...

I hope you enjoy my profile! I try to add new pix all the time and keep the BLOG relatively up to date. Comments and criticisms are welcomed.

LOVE

Phonic TheE Bomber

"IF YOU ARE GOING THROUGH HELL...........................................KEEP GOING" -

- "Winston Churchill"

THERE IS NO POINT IN BEING PESSIMISTIC
IT WOULD NOT WORK ANYWAY.