Published
Tue, Feb 28, 2017, 21:20
- A collection of his notes, scores, tapes and other ephemera will be on display for the first time ever starting this week.
The Brooklyn Academy of Music will open Do What I Want: Selections From The Arthur Russell Papers, at their Diker Gallery Café building from March 1st to 14th.
The New York Public Library acquired the so-called Arthur Russell Papers about a year ago. The collection, which came from Russell's partner of 12 years, Tom Lee, contains a thousand-or-so reels, cassettes, DATs, Beta and VHS tapes, according to the New York Times. Bits and pieces of that archive will be displayed publicly for the first time ever at a two-week BAM exhibition that's free and open to the public, FACT reports. It will mostly include notes, scores and never-before-heard demo tracks from the late composer, cellist and electronic music trailblazer.
BAM Rose Cinemas will also screen Wild Combination, the highly celebrated documentary about his life, and Terrace of Unintelligibility, a rare performance captured on video. That screening is a one-off event and takes place in the Peter Jay Sharp building on April 20th.
Steve Knutson of Audika Records, the label that issued many of Russell's posthumous releases, made a playlist to complement the exhibition. Listen to that on Soundcloud.