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The Squid's Ear Magazine
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McCormick, John Collins

Healthy Alternative To Thinking [CASSETTE w/ DOWNLOAD]

McCormick, John Collins : Healthy Alternative To Thinking [CASSETTE w/ DOWNLOAD] (Eh?)

Two sound works from multimedia artist John Collins McCormick (Sky Thing) recorded using a multi-channel, portable sound system that employs up to 8 subwoofers in drum stands, amplifying low frequencies and rattling odds and ends he collected over the years, creating a rolling and controlled cacophony of quick rhythms and unusual asides from objects placed on the subwoofers.
 

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product information:

Personnel:



John Collins McCormick-composer, performer


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Label: Eh?
Catalog ID: 122
Squidco Product Code: 33572

Format: CASSETTE
Condition: New
Released: 2023
Country: USA
Packaging: Cassette
Recorded by the artist.

Descriptions, Reviews, &c.

"[...] Just under thirty minutes of sound produced by up to eight subwoofers in drum stands, low frequencies, and "rattling odds and ends" makes for a sound that is Industrial, in that it's characterized by a rumbling, ceaseless low grade thrum, much like the sound of dental drill on a tooth or a jackhammer a few blocks down the street. The musical aspect comes from the overtones which arise within the mixture of the elements utilized by Collins McCormick. The listener is advised to be patient; they're there, but they don't jump out at first. This is not easy music to digest, but it hits that nerve that many people have, the one that can become entranced by simple sounds that repeat over and over again. Disaster Amnesiac has noted as well the engineering for Healthy Alternative, in that I'm guessing that John utilized close mic techniques for what I'd imagine is sound capture from a pretty delicate configuration. Dude is a sculptor, after all. To put that another way, this release doesn't scream obscenities at the confluence of large avenues, but instead whispers peculiarities from an (imagined) sitting room that is filled with books about Topics. Imagine Martin Heidegger pulling up rich, German earth with a powerful tractor, and you'll have a pretty good mental film with Healthy Alternative To Thinking as its soundtrack."-Mark Pino, Disaster Amnesiac



"John Collins McCormick was born in 1983 in Fort Wayne Indiana. He played drums in Dead Letter Auction from 99-2002 and attended the School Of The Museum of Fine Art, Boston, Purchase College State University of New York and Herron School of Art and Design earning a Bachelors and Masters of fine art degrees in sculpture, using sound as a material. McCormick performed and released albums as Sky Thing from 08-13 after which he's used his full name for all his projects."-eh?


Get additional information at Disaster Amnesiac

Artist Biographies

John Collins McCormick

Education
2014 Master of Fine Arts, Sculpture; John Herron School of Art and Design, Indianapolis, IN
2007 Bachelors of Fine Art, Interdisciplinary Studio Art, Sculpture and Drawing; School of Art and Design, Purchase
College, State University of New York, Purchase, NY
2002-03 Studio Art, School of the Museum of Fine Art Boston, Boston MA
Relevant Work Experience
2018-19 - Audio Visual Technician/Preparator, Indianapolis Museum of Fine Art
2017/18 3D Foundation,(F123) Junior, Senior, Graduate Sculpture,(S300/400/500) Herron School of Art and Design,
Indianapolis, IN
2015/16 Mellon Digital Arts Fellow, Marlboro College, Marlboro VT, Sound as Material I & II, Sculpture I, Marlboro
College, Marlboro, VT
2014/15 Sophomore Sculpture (S201/02) Herron School of Art and Design, 3-D Fundamentals of Three Dimensional,
Sound as Material (Rotating Topics in Sculpture) Herron School of Art and Design (F123)
Art Appreciation (ART 110-01), University of Indianapolis
Americorp Public Allies, Big Car Collaborative
Residencies
2014 Artist in Residence, Art Farm Nebraska, Marquette NE
Solo Exhibitions/Public Commission
2018 "Recentering / No Most Fatigue and How to Spend" StorageSpace, Sound and Sculpture Installation
Indianapolis, IN
2017 "Why Not See?" Solo Painting Exhibition, Middle Space Gallery, Indianapolis,IN
2015 "Wood, Metal, Sound" Sound Installation, Drury Gallery, Marlboro, VT
2013 The Daniels Leadership Foundation, Artist (creation/fabrication of sculptural award)
2013 "Flow II", Reconnecting Our Waterways at Big Car, Sound Installation, Indianapolis, IN
2011 "John Collins McCormick Drawings", Friends and Relatives Records; Ypsilanti, MI
2010 "Flow", Space Camp Micro Gallery, Indianapolis, IN
Selected Exhibitions/Performances
2019 "Hacked, Found, Repurposed" Group Show, Center for New Music, San Francisco, CA
2017 Midwest Tour with John Wiese (OH, MI, IN)
2017 Concentration Club (series curator) Middle Space Gallery, Indianapolis, IN
2016 Sound Performance; John Collins McCormick, Feeding Tube Records, Florence, MA
"Noise-Brunch" Firehouse Gallery, Worcester, MA
Sound Performance; John Collins McCormick, Pharmacy, Philadelphia, PA,
Ratchet Series (duo with Aaron Zarzutzki) Cafe Mustache, Chicago, IL
2015 Sound Installation for Summer Solstice, 100 Acres Sculpture Park, Indianapolis Museum of Art
Sound Performance; John Collins McCormick "9 Rules of the Avant-Garde" General Public Collective, Indianapolis,
IN
Performance, Excess Gallery, Bloomington, IN
Performance, Totally Awesome Fest, Ypsilanti, MI
2014 Stop Hate in America; Zine Issue 1, Curated by Nick Hoffman, Eugene, OR
Making Memory; Group Exhibition, Sound Installation, Marsh Gallery, Herron School of Art and Design
Sound Performance; John C McCormick; Sidney and Lois Eskenazi Fine Art Center, Indianapolis, IN
2013 Works for Prepared Library, The Cincinnati Public Library; Cincinnati, OH
Hammer, Anvil, Stirrup: People Make Things That Make Sounds, Group Exhibit, Sound Installation, Lux Center for
the Arts, Lincoln, NE
The Wanderer Project; Transmediale Festival, Group Exhibit, Photography; Berlin, Germany
"Dum Dum Zine", Drawings, L.A. Zine Fest; Los Angeles Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles, CA
2012 Sound Performance; Sky Thing; Indy Indie Artist Gallery; Indianapolis, IN
Sound Performance, (D)(B)(H); Dreamland Theater, Ypsilanti, MI
Sound Performance, Sky Thing; The Hideout; Chicago, IL
Drawing Exhibit, "Systemic Abstraction"; The Fort Wayne Museum of Art, Fort Wayne, IN,
Drawing Exhibit, "EX: Collaborative Creation", International Arts Movement; New York City, NY,
Drawing, "Quickest Flippest" Zine; Issues #1,2; Eugene, OR
2011 Drawing zine "Book Store"; Drift Station; Lincoln, NE,
Group Drawing Exhibit, "Psychogenic Fugue"; House Bar; Bloomington, IN,
Colorless Green Ideas; (Zine) Issues #9,10; London, England,
Sound Performance; Sky Thing; Totally Awesome Fest 7;Ypsilianti, MI,
Sound Performance; Madame Gallery; Minneapolis, MN,
Sound Performance; Myopic Books; Chicago, IL
2010 Sound Performance; Sky Thing; It Looks Like It's Open; Columbus, OH
Sound Performance; Roots and Culture; Chicago, IL
Sound Performance; Big Car; Indianapolis, IN
2009 "Drippy-Droppy, Lovebugs, Haters and Couch Potaters"; Artlink Fort Wayne, IN
Pro You Zine Release; Fort Wayne Museum of Art; Fort Wayne, IN
Sound Performance; Sky Thing and The Fort Wayne Ballet w/ David Ingram, Fort Wayne, IN
Selected Bibliography
2012 David Winship, "John Collins McCormick Mysteries of the Ordinary" MinimalExposition.Blogspot.com April 7
James Payne, "John Collins McCormick's Line Drawings" BeautifulDecay.com March 26
Jack Chuter, "Garbage Strike" Attnmagazine.co.uk July 31
2011 Demian Johnston, "Cooler Heads Prevail" DeadFormats.Blogspot.com December 15
2010 Dan Swartz "Populous" Fort Wayne Reader, February 202009 Dan Swartz "Pro You" Fort Wayne Reader, May
18
Discography
2019 Trapping Configuration; Audio Recording, Solo, Eminent Observer, Cincinatti, OH
Ad for Nails; Audio Recording, Solo, Gilgongo Records, Tempe, AZ
2018 One Bone in the Arm; Audio Recording, Solo, Pan y Rosas Discos, net label, Digital Release Chicago, IL. No
Most Fatigue; Audio Recording, Solo, Impulsive Habitat net label, Digital Release, Lisbon Portugal.
2016 Pluperfect; Audio Recording, duo w/ Ben Bennett, Eh? Recordings, San Francisco, CA
There Never Was An Underground; Audio Recording, Solo, Self Released
2015 Icky Vicky; Audio Recording, trio w/ Andy Israelensen, Katie Kroko, Pan y Rosas Discos net label, Digital
Release, Chicago, IL
2014 Beyond Antibiotics; Audio Recording; (D)(B)(H) sextet w/ Justin Rhody, Marty Belcher, Daniel Wick, Joe Stone,
Chris Rall, Human Conduct Records, St. Louis, MO
2013 Lisa's Hat; Audio Recording; Sky Thing, solo, Faux Pas Recordings; North Hampton, MA Virgin Journalist;
Audio Recording; Sky Thing; quartet w/ Stephen Peck, Megan Mirro, Justin Rhody, Eh? Recordings, San Francisco,
CA
2012 Your Reality Check Bounced; Audio Recording; Sky Thing, FM Dust Recordings; Ann Arbor, MI, Master Pieces
of Objective Reporting; Audio Recording; (D)(B)(H) quartet w/ Marty Belcher, Jay Kreimer, Justin Rhody, Gilgongo
Records; Tempe, AZ
2011 Cooler Heads Prevail; Audio Recording; Sky Thing, Solo, Eggy Records; Portland, OR
Garbage Strike; Audio Recording, Solo, Pan y Rosas Discos net label, Digital Release, Chicago, IL
2010 Howdy Cloud; Audio Recording; Sky Thing, Friends and Relatives Records, Ypsilanti, MI-John Collins McCormick Website (https://johncollinsmccormick.files.wordpress.com/2023/05/john-collins-mccormick-cv.pdf)
10/2/2024

Have a better biography or biography source? Please Contact Us so that we can update this biography.


Track Listing:



SIDE A



1. Healthy Alternative 1 13:00

SIDE B



1.Healthy Alternative 2 12:59

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