Reconstruction: Building New Music from Old Denver Records

Kwende "Memetic" Kefentse and Ian "Pho" Swain + ArtLab Youth presentreconstruction: building new music from old denver recordsOpening Reception + ExhibitionThursday, March 7, 5:30-8 p.m. at PlatteForumMemetic and Pho will conclude their residency with an opening reception at PlatteForum that will include live performance from their ongoing collaborative projectBrothers. They will be joined by 16 interns in PlatteForum’s ArtLab program—youth who have been working in intensive sessions with the artists during the two-month residency, listening to, analyzing, and integrating music from old records to create their own new piece of music. Youth will also perform.[quote]"Sampling old records isn’t a lost art, but its heyday was 20 years ago. We believe the craft can be taken much further. Sampling—not as wholesale copying, but as one of many ingredients—is a way of infusing forgotten strands of the past into the musical fabric of the present. We will present a body of musical works that incorporate sampling into modern beats, bringing new tools, new skills, and new energy to an old artform. After all, what better way to look into the future than by standing on the shoulders of giants? --Kwende “Memetic” Kefentse + Ian “Pho” Swain[/quote]Please join us for a special opening reception to kick off reconstruction on Thursday, March 7, at PlatteForum, 5:30 p.m. - 8:00 p.m. Free and open to the public.

DJ Memetic, a cultural planner for the city of Ottawa, is the DJ and host of TimeKode, one of Ottawa’s most respected, long-running dance parties. DJ Pho is a producer, multi-instrumentalist, and one-half of the acclaimed Toronto indie dancehall soul group Bonjay. Together Memetic and Pho have been collaborating on a beat-oriented project called Brothers. Living in different cities, they have rarely had enough time together to realize their ideas. Their artist residency at PlatteForum has given them the dedicated time together to complete a musical project at the intersection of beat production and live performance. After spending the initial days of the residency exploring new working methods for the collaboration, they have been creating two beats per day, one in the morning and one in the afternoon. They are taking the best of the beats and arranging them into complete songs with intros, bridges, b-parts, etc. The culmination of the collaboration is a live performance of the best songs as a duo, which will highlighted during the March 7 exhibition opening reception.While in residence, Memetic and Pho have been working with 16 youth in PlatteForum’s award-winning ArtLab program. The artists introduced the kids to MIDIs (musical instrument digital interface), production software, turntables, and vinyl records as they demonstrated how to make and mix beats, develop an ear for their taste in music, and create personal performance styles. This match up of youth and artists is about much more than simply educating youth about music production; through participation in such a comprehensive creative process, youth acquire a broad swath of skills that will stay with them forever.Opening Reception/PerformanceThursday, March 7, 5:30 – 8:00 pm, performances start at 6:30Exhibition and sound stations continue through March 16, 2013Tuesday-Friday, noon-4:00 pm or by appointment, 303-893-0791 or info@platteforum.orgFree and open to the publicDont miss Memetic and Pho atThe unGala: A 10-Year-Anniversary Bash and Dance Party for PlatteForumSaturday, March 9, 6:30 - 11:30 p.m. at Infinite Monkey Theorem, 3200 Larimer Street, Denver, COtickets to the fundraiser and more infoAbout ArtLabWinner of the 2011 National Arts and Humanities Youth Program award, ArtLab is an innovative year-round out-of-school program for underserved high school youth that incorporate the creative arts with academic, personal and professional skill development. ArtLab youth are involved in the creation and presentation of major works, mentored by professional artists, participate in workshops directed by visiting artists, mentor younger at-risk children during Learning Lab workshops held at PlatteForum and participate in service-learning projects.About PlatteForumPlatteForum teams contemporary artists with small groups of young people from underserved urban neighborhoods to plan, produce and exhibit a collaborative body of work. PlatteForum was created to answer the critical need for learning through the arts for Denver's underserved and at-risk youth. In doing so, PlatteForum gives kids a chance to work side by side with master artists who model the outlook and skills required to build a productive and satisfying life. These creative residencies offer exciting opportunities for working artists to create new work and provide a learning-by-doing experience for young people that can open up a new sense of what is possible.