HOW TO LIVE FOREVER
PRINCE RAMA: HOW TO LIVE FOREVER
January 25 – February 21, 2015
CULT, San Francisco
The first solo gallery exhibition by Prince Rama, HOW TO LIVE FOREVER runs from January 25th through February 21st at CULT EXHIBITIONS in San Francisco. With this series of immersive, multidisciplinary installations and performances, Prince Rama will explore the transformation of kitsch to sublime, of time into eternity using pop music as a portal to enter a hyper-utopian future set to a soundtrack of pulsating, hypnotic dance beats of post-apocalyptic catharsis.
For the pseudo-compilation album and limited-edition photographic series TOP TEN HITS OF THE END OF THE WORLD, Prince Rama invented a narrative around ten different pop bands that died during an imagined future apocalypse, channeling their ghosts to perform various songs. The work explores pop music’s relationship to memory, nostalgia, and the spirit world, filtering sound and aesthetics through the lens of a post-apocalyptic future looking back at the wonders of its sonic legacy. It incorporates influences as disparate as cosmic disco, motorcycle rock, new-wave, grunge, tribal goth, Arabic pop, and ghost-modern glam. At CULT, Prince Rama will present a selection of songs and photos by the deceased bands, presented as if they were transmissions received from the afterlife. Photographed by Samantha Casolari.
The installation THE EMPIRE NEVER ENDED was inspired by science fiction writer Philip K. Dick's book VALIS, in which the protagonist, Horselover Fat, envisions the landscape of southern California as a holographic projection superimposed over ancient Rome. Here, that scenario is reversed, revealing commonalities between the two societies in terms of wealth, ersatz spirituality, and aesthetic decadence.
For FOREVER, the gallery’s inner room will be transformed into a surreal karaoke bar, featuring videos by fictional ‘artists’ and ‘sponsors’ originally created for THE WHITNEY BIENNIAL 2067, a multimedia survey of "contemporary art of the future" originally exhibited at the Whitney in 2013. At CULT, the video will be slowed down and pitch-shifted in the style of “chop and screw” in order to create an eerie sense of time warping, providing a hypnotic, multi-dimensional platform where visitors will be invited to explore the hidden depths of pop cultural idol worship–and sing along. Video in collaboration with Lily X Wahrman / Astral Projects.
Watch a clip here:
For more information or inquiries about the work, contact Aimee Friberg, Cult Exhibitions: [email protected]
Photo credit Terri Loewenthal and Shaun Roberts
January 25 – February 21, 2015
CULT, San Francisco
The first solo gallery exhibition by Prince Rama, HOW TO LIVE FOREVER runs from January 25th through February 21st at CULT EXHIBITIONS in San Francisco. With this series of immersive, multidisciplinary installations and performances, Prince Rama will explore the transformation of kitsch to sublime, of time into eternity using pop music as a portal to enter a hyper-utopian future set to a soundtrack of pulsating, hypnotic dance beats of post-apocalyptic catharsis.
For the pseudo-compilation album and limited-edition photographic series TOP TEN HITS OF THE END OF THE WORLD, Prince Rama invented a narrative around ten different pop bands that died during an imagined future apocalypse, channeling their ghosts to perform various songs. The work explores pop music’s relationship to memory, nostalgia, and the spirit world, filtering sound and aesthetics through the lens of a post-apocalyptic future looking back at the wonders of its sonic legacy. It incorporates influences as disparate as cosmic disco, motorcycle rock, new-wave, grunge, tribal goth, Arabic pop, and ghost-modern glam. At CULT, Prince Rama will present a selection of songs and photos by the deceased bands, presented as if they were transmissions received from the afterlife. Photographed by Samantha Casolari.
The installation THE EMPIRE NEVER ENDED was inspired by science fiction writer Philip K. Dick's book VALIS, in which the protagonist, Horselover Fat, envisions the landscape of southern California as a holographic projection superimposed over ancient Rome. Here, that scenario is reversed, revealing commonalities between the two societies in terms of wealth, ersatz spirituality, and aesthetic decadence.
For FOREVER, the gallery’s inner room will be transformed into a surreal karaoke bar, featuring videos by fictional ‘artists’ and ‘sponsors’ originally created for THE WHITNEY BIENNIAL 2067, a multimedia survey of "contemporary art of the future" originally exhibited at the Whitney in 2013. At CULT, the video will be slowed down and pitch-shifted in the style of “chop and screw” in order to create an eerie sense of time warping, providing a hypnotic, multi-dimensional platform where visitors will be invited to explore the hidden depths of pop cultural idol worship–and sing along. Video in collaboration with Lily X Wahrman / Astral Projects.
Watch a clip here:
For more information or inquiries about the work, contact Aimee Friberg, Cult Exhibitions: [email protected]
Photo credit Terri Loewenthal and Shaun Roberts
