HORNSCULPTURE.COM 

contact: mark@hornsculpture.com

DOCUMENTATION OF INTEGRATED ART PROJECTS
Mark Southerland Horn Sculpture Bio/Resume
Mark Southerland
2139 Summit St. 1st Floor
Kansas City, MO 64108
(816) 332 1315
thefashionpanda@gmail.com
hornsculpture.com
Artist Statement


     I construct bodies of work based on cult behavior and sound driven sculptures. The shows are abstracted revivals and pink camouflaged passion plays. My audio tribes perform soft rituals and navigate neon backdrops, petting zoo animals, and international jazz and flamenco musicians. I set up layered happenings that are heavily documented.

     I am interested in the big box materials, colors, and images used to promote nature and sport. I shop for the layers of my stage in surplus military stores, online spandex wholesalers, dated disco light renters, and discounted sport shops. I seek costumes, walls, tents, musical instruments, and shelter for my performers.

     Feather hoodies and painted backdrops, tiny horns and LEDs inform my dioramas of sound and stories. Vividly costumed performers interact with fantastical backdrops and temporary shelters. These operatic installations pit wearable horn sculptures and cult couture garments against eye candy culture and shanty architecture.

     Modern hunting and camping is a mess of urban improvisation and commercial appropriation. Documenting survival scenes into spontaneous tradition with rich storytelling and sound is my ultimate and primary goal.



About

          Mark Southerland has used the saxophone as a medium for exploring sound and performance for over 25 years. By reinterpreting the assumed stage presence of a jazz musician, Southerland’s work has run the gamut of pop culture and Rahsaan Roland Kirk tributaries, to wearable horn sculptures and nomadic tent installations. His reinvention of brass and woodwind instruments, circuit-bent electronic children’s toys, and eight track “scratching” turn his stage work into an Alexander Caulder-esque circus of visual and sound possibilities. His “bastardized” horns and costumes have been displayed as free-standing sculptures at the Dolphin Gallery and Urban Culture Projects in Kansas City, the OSP in Boston, and Bridge Art Fair at Art Basel Miami.

          A Kansas City native, Mark Southerland has played locally, nationally, and throughout Europe for over ten years. His ongoing projects, Snuff Jazz and Wee Snuff involve a constantly changing cast of musicicians and performers. Southerland recently finished residencies in both New Orleans and New York, performing with a range of international musicians - Helen Gillet, Allison Miller, James Singleton, Skerik and Simon Berz. He appears regularly with the award winning Owen Cox Dance Ensemble and has produced 2 major performance installation pieces with Jane Gotch. He is a natural host and collaborator with other musicians and artists - Brian Haas, Eugene Chadbourne, Todd Sickafoose, Beau Bledsoe, David Ford, Peregrine Honig, and Nick Cave. Southerland continuously extends his possibilities, pushing the improvisatory envelope of visual and auditory standards.

Resume

Integrated Performances/ Live Horn Sculptures

            2011   WE! Performance Installation with Jane Gotch, Town Pavilion, KC MO

            2010   Big Bear with Allison Miller and Helen Gillet, IBeam, Brooklyn NY

            2010   See Saw Performance Installation with Jane Gotch, La Esquina, KC MO

            2010   Urban Noise Camp @ New Genre Festival, Living Arts Center, Tulsa OK

            2010   Musical Director for Nick Cave Soundsuit Performance, KCAI 125th Gala

            2009   Noise Camp, TEDX Conference, Nelson-Atkins Museum, KC MO

            2009   Urban Noise Camp Magic Cave, Kemper Crossroads, KC MO

            2009   Moon Bears and Sister wives in 3 parts, La Esquina, UCP Event , KC MO

            2009   Wee Snuff the New Nomads, Avenue of the Arts, KC MO

            2008   Wee Snuff/Urban Noise Camp, Charlotte St. Awards, Copaken , KC MO

            2008   Preying Horns at Sunrise, Fahrenheit Gallery, Kansas City MO

            2007   My Indian Beat Box,  Bridge Art Fair, Art Basel Miami, Fl

            2007   Wee Snuff at David Ford's Maximon Performance, Jack the Pelican, BK NY

            2007   Wee Snuff Jazz at Jamie Warren's Whoop de Doo, La Esquina, KC MO

            2006   Musique Action International Experimental Music Fest, Nancy, France

Group Shows

            2010   Tulsa Race Riot Suite, recording w/Jacob Fred Jazz Odyssey, Tulsa OK

            2008   "Noise" feat Lucky Dragon, SiteLA, Los Angeles, CA

            2008   Flat Files, H&R Block Art Space, Kansas City, MO

            2007   Satellite Exhibitions, Bridge Art Fair, Art Basel, Miami FL

            2005   "Conditions of Sound", The Boley Space, Urban Culture Projects, KC, MO

            2004   "The Gun and Knife Show", The Stray Show  Art Fair,  Chicago IL

            2004   "The Weight of Feathers", OSP Gallery, Boston, MA 

Cited Awards

            2011   Lighton Foundation Grant, horn sculpture/flamenco studies, Seville, Spain

            2009   Avenue of the Arts Grant for Noise Camp Installation,  Municipal Arts Council, KC MO

            2009   Inspiration Grant for  "Art of Improvisation", Metropolitan Arts Council, KC MO

            2008   Charlotte Street Generative Performing Artist Award, KC MO

            2008   Creative Capital Artist Workshop, KC MO

            2006   Tanne Award  Boston  Massachusetts

Biography

            2009  "Weird Bodily Noises:Mark Southerland Sounds Out an Alternative Present"

                        Pete Williams Ethnographic Research Project KU Doctoral Program

            2008  "Mark Southerland"s Horn Sculpture" Pete Dulin Present Magazine.com July

            2007  "Adding Depth to Improvisation"  Roger Atkinson  Jam Magazine October

            2006  “Mark Southerland Tanne Award” Mike Miller  Review Magazine October

Education

            UMKC Conservatory 1988-1992


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