To the Extreme: Artist Brent Birnbaum channels his inner Ice during his poster signing/performance at Never Can Say Goodbye. (Photos by C-M.)
As any old school New York City hoodrat can tell you, back in the days when the hair was big and the Internerdz didn’t exist, the Tower Records space on lower Broadway was a place of pilgrimage for all things music. In addition to being the spot where you could find plaid-shirted rock nerds deconstructing the various minor schools of punk, it was the only store in the city where you could also get Lowrider Magazine.
The store closed four years ago. But last Friday night, the non-profit group No Longer Empty resurrected its spirit for a night of music-related artsy goodness in a group show called Never Can Say Goodbye. The space, which has been sitting empty since Tower shut down, was filled with music-inspired art, featuring everything from a mock record shop to an in-store poster signing/performance by Ice Ice Maybe (the Vanilla Ice-esque alter-ego of artist Brent Birnbaum). There was also vodka, red wine and plenty of rock and roll hedonism — so much so that I decided to get my boob signed. Later I hurled on a cop car and trashed a hotel room. And all I gotta say is: Sharpie is a bitch to wash out.
Click on images to supersize.
The entire front of the space was turned into a mock record shop in an installation called Never Records by Ted Riederer.
Bling Box Retrospective, by Ryan Brennan.
There was video, too. This piece, Scherzo, by Joe Diebes, took a piece of music by a cellist and remixed it into something dischordant. As a former high school orchestra nerd, I found it quite absorbing.
Space Oddity, by Meredyth Sparks.
Orange speaker cabinet, by Kaz Oshiro. This piece is made entirely out of painted, stretched canvas.
If all we’ve got is potential…by Matthew Bradley. I love it when people do clever stuff cheap.
Part of the display was given over to Brandi Merolla, who created some of Tower Records’ window displays over the years. In the mix were windows devoted to David Byrne, Siouxsie and the Banshees and the Beastie Boys – all from back in the day. Here’s a shot of Iggy Pop, reminding us that ’80s fashion had many unfortunate moments.
Diaspora, by Paul Villinksi.
Now back to Ice. In the photo: a fanboy gets totally stoked. Birnbaum, who signed more than 170 posters (at $5 a pop) during his performance, has a brewing fascination with crazy-haired people from Dallas (where he also hails from). He’s been collecting Vanilla Ice merch for more than two years. Read all about it here.
Paper’s Carlo McKormick, wishing he had a jacket as cool as Ice Ice Maybe.
There was oodles of Ice memorabilia.
And there were plenty of groupies getting frisky…
Including this one…
Parting shot: Brent Birnbaum’s before-and-after transformation into Vanilla Ice. Apparently his girlfriend isn’t exactly thrilled with the new look. But I have to say, I find the chipped eyebrow kinda hot. (This last image is courtesy of Birnbaum.)
OMG I miss Tower so much. Never wash that boob again!
A long long time ago, just before Tower opened, there was a plywood construction barrier that spanned the entire length of the block on 4th St. It was there that I saw my favorite graffiti of all time: “U.S Out of Manhattan” written in large spray painted letters across the entire length of the barrier, a full block long. I regret that I never took a photo of that.
Wrote a follow up piece regarding the panel discussion featured on January 26th at No Longer Empty, would love to hear people’s feedback: http://designtoandfro.com/nevercansaygoodbye/