Space According to Billygoat
contributor: Ed Thanhouser – Jan. 11, 2009
Sometimes, you wander into a place at random and are suddenly smacked in the face with something so inscrutably impressive, so imposingly beautiful and mysterious that it will rescue even the worst of moods, the dreariest of winter days. Such was my Thursday night. After a long, painful day of mind-numbing busywork, I was wandering about in the freezing cold after eating dinner alone in the stark, modern environs of the Pearl District, looking for my friend Mike’s gallery. Trouble is I didn’t know the name of it, since I hadn’t bothered to ask, silly me. After several long detours and wrong turns, I finally walked through the right door at the Everett Station building, and into the bright, welcoming warmth of the IN HOUSE gallery. Mike was drifting about, amiably tossing me a beer and welcoming me to the space. On the wall were several intricate woodcut overlays for an exhibit called “North.” Intricate, delicate and highly-textured pieces drawing patterns from nature, all handmade by David Kline and Nick Woolley… otherwise known as Billygoat. As I was admiring their detail, the lights dimmed, a projector hummed to life, and two smartly dressed men politely suggested that the crowd would be most comfortable sitting down. We sat on the floor, and what followed was the bewitching, painstakingly handcrafted stop-motion animation of two Billygoat films, soundtracked live by the artists. This was no casual evening of wine and wall-gazing. We were about to get rocketed into space.
Space according to Billygoat is full of heavily allegorical (and often psychedelic) dream-like landscapes populated by spinning mushrooms, dancing figures, burning angels, cosmic horses and giant golden hands. The accompanying music is appropriately dreamy, and formless enough that it never distracts from, but only enhances it’s gorgeous visual centerpiece. Accordingly, Kline and Woolley are anti-performers, as they sit to the sides in the dark, calmly gliding a violin bow over the strings of an electric bass, or plucking a handmade harp. Sequencers, loops and synthesizers do the rest. As you get sucked further and further in, you forget that you’re hearing a live musical performance at all, and become totally engrossed in the visual storytelling of the video. And what a barrage of stories! During the second video, a premier of their newest work, “The Golden Age,” there was a mesmerizing sequence in which small birds fly into a swirling blue paper vortex. I later learned from David Kline that the scene is inspired by the Chapman swifts diving in and out of that giant chimney this past fall. I also learned that this is the couple’s first year in Portland, having just moved from LA last June. Welcome to town, Billygoat, I think you’ll fit right in.
See “Klien and Woolley: North” at IN-HOUSE gallery, 625 NW Everett #106 or on the web at
www.kleinandwoolley.com
Hear and see Billygoat at www.billygoatplanet.com
