Last Thursday night TSRE trekked to the Guggenheim to see Animal Collective perform their site specific piece Transverse Temporal Gyrus that included light effects from visual artist Danny Perez. While Animal Collective's recent albums have been accessible, melodic and even pop-ish at times, Transverse Temporal Gyrus solidified in my mind that these guys are first and foremost art rockers who care more about pushing boundaries and making artistic points than necessarily pleasing their fans. I arrived at the Guggenheim not expecting a concert, but at least expecting interaction and some mental stimulation. Instead, Animal Collective stood mostly still for three hours like those statue street performers in robes and masks that reminded me of the rabbit from Donny Darko. The score as I will call it had some interesting crests and loops, but in all honesty the sound along with the light show failed to fully take advantage of the uniquely awesome space that is a completely empty Guggenheim museum. Even more than simply being artistic, which it very well probably was, I just could not get over the detachment. The performance did not feel inclusive and for a celebration of the Guggenheim's 50th Anniversary and with the opportunity to perform in such a unique space, I expected to be pummeled by art, rather than only catching a glimpse of it from around a corner or vaguely reflected on a wall. I will still enjoy Animal Collective recordings, but in attempting to challenge expectations (like any solid artist) they squandered an opportunity and instead tried to deliver a weak and uninspired message to a host of fans on whom the message already seemed to be lost.
Animal Collective - Water Curses (YSI) (zshare)
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