Next up in our series of art and music Selects from the cult L.A. band is the underground noise artist who speaks to us about empty holes and the xylowave
Having been active in almost every underground art scene you can think of since the 70s, GX Jupitter-Larsen’s catalogue of work is as prolific and diverse as you can get. Aside from writing, filmmaking and other conceptual arts, perhaps his best-known role is as founder of experimental noise group The Haters, whose latest performance piece, entitled ‘Loud Luggage / Booming Baggage’ features amplified suitcases, which literally explode with sound. At the heart of much of his work is an interesting self-created system of measurements and numbers.
Liars: "Most well known for his work with The Haters, GX Jupiter Larsen also maintains an infinitely fascinating website. While there, be sure to check out his custom made rulers."
As part of this week's Liars Selects, GX Jupitter-Larsen explains his personalised measurements to us and shares some artistic inspirations.
I've overheard some pretty amazing conversations while waiting in line at the post office. So I'm making a film about what happens when people go to the post office for philosophy instead of postage
Dazed Digital: Where do you live?
GX Jupitter-Larsen: I live and work in Los Angeles, next to the La Brea Tar Pits. The Tar Pits are these big smelly holes full of tar. Any other city would hide such things from the pubic. Los Angeles builds a park around them so they become this spectacle. There's even a museum of all the dead things they've found inside the pits. It's actually pretty funny - interesting and funny.
DD: Working on any exciting projects?
GX Jupitter-Larsen: I've overheard some pretty amazing conversations while waiting in line at the post office. So I'm making a film about what happens when people go to the post office for philosophy instead of postage. I've been working on this film for years, but I plan to start editing very soon.
DD: What is it like to have your hands in so many different creative disciplines?
GX Jupitter-Larsen: I use the same ideas in each. Each discipline works as a different filter. It's interesting to see how the same idea will be affected by such different filters.
DD: Are there any themes in your work?
GX Jupitter-Larsen: At first, it was all about celebrating entropy, and building empty holes. Recently, it has become a lot more complicated. More and more so, my work has become this lexicon of personalised ideals of measurement: ideals such as the polywave, the xylowave, and the romawave. These ideals have become my own personal alternative to the inch or the centimeter. What are these ideals? The mingwave is the distance between thought and language. The xylowave is the distance between something and nothing. The romawave is the distance it takes for something to be forgotten. The polywave is self-contradictory movement.
DD: Tell us about The Haters. How is your music connected to your visual and performance art?
GX Jupitter-Larsen: First of all, it's not music. It's noise. Just noise. Second, it's not just any noise, but the sounds of decay, entropy. I love these sounds, like fire and grinding. I find them very beautiful. The Haters is about beauty. Everything should be beautiful, and the best way to get there is by destroying.
DD: What or who are you into at the moment?
GX Jupitter-Larsen: This father/son team from Texas called Reality/Zombra. They throw themselves into their noise with such passion. The son, Reality, has a sophisticated expertise that is years beyond his youth. The father, Zombra, literally beats himself up with his own gear.
DD: Who are your favourite artists?
GX Jupitter-Larsen: Sound artist? Damion Romero. Used to call himself Speculum Fight. His live noise affects more than just the ears. His sound is a physical stimulation that is felt all over the body, both inside and out.
Filmmaker? Béla Tarr is the greatest living filmmaker. Maybe his best work is "The Man From London.” I understand that most people hate this film because it moves so slowly. It might actually move slower than any other movie ever made. I don't care. I love this film! This epic masterpiece reveals an ironic existential beauty within the torment of its subjects. The slowness of this film works to amplify the emptiness within the lives unfolding in front of us. The film moves at a rate so we can sit back and really study the composition of the photography, frame by frame, without any worrying about missing anything. At times this film seems to stand still, like a void staring right back at us. It's a beautiful void. Maybe the most beautiful void ever.
Writer? Henry Darger. By far. No one else even comes close. Every one of his manuscripts completely re-invents every preconception of language.
Read our interview with Suzy Poling HERE
Text by Lillian He
