Artist, Performer Mark Dixon ’96 will return to campus Nov. 8
Mark Dixon ’96, a visual artist and musician notable for his unorthodox couplings of high art and everyday life, will speak about his work on Thursday, Nov. 8, at 7 p.m. in the Leak Room, located in Duke Hall. Dixon will show videos of his performances and slides of his work from days as a student at Guilford and of his current projects.
“Mark is a true original, and Guilford is very fortunate to have him as our fall visiting artist,” says David Newton, an assistant professor of art. “Mark has persevered in his vision of transformative, highly original art, and he has done it on his own terms.”
Dixon earned a bachelor’s degree in art, with a concentration in sculpture, before going on to get his master’s degree at Carnegie Mellon University. In his career as an artist, Dixon has largely avoided the commercial gallery world, instead choosing more informal venues in order to reach people who do not traditionally venture to art galleries.
He has done a number of performances – including several at Guilford – using instruments that he has invented. These include a typewriter that is electronically hooked up to a piano, both of which have 88 keys, and a wooden chair that doubles as a marimba. It is this aspect of his work that is most innovative, combining electronics with “found sounds,” often using everyday objects such as paper cups as percussive instruments.
Dixon has a band that performs with these instruments, creating an extraordinary variety of inventive sounds and rhythms. He also plays jazz bass with the band Invisible, as well as drums with a political activist drum corps called Cackalack Thunder.
The talk is free and open to the public. For more information, e-mail dnewton@guilford.edu or call 336-316-2249.
Nov. 8, 2007