Jaap BLONK: ArtSPEAK@FSW performance set for Oct. 27 at Bob Rauschenberg Gallery at Florida Southwestern State College
Florida Southwestern State College will present internationally-acclaimed sound poet, musician and improvisational performer Jaap Blonk for a Richard & Julia Rush endowed ArtSPEAK@FSW, spoken-word/concert/event in the Bob Rauschenberg Gallery at FSW on Friday, Oct. 27 at 7 p.m. (doors open at 6:30).
Often described as the Netherlands’ performance poet “par excellence” and widely-acknowledged as sound poetry’s chief representative, before the term “performance poetry” was coined or the advent and popularity of so-called poetry slams, there was Jaap Blonk. Employing every register of the human voice, Blonk succeeds in dissolving the boundaries between poetry and music.
Born 1953 in Woerden, Netherlands, Jaap Blonk is a self-taught composer, vocalist, poet and visual artist who has toured and performed on every continent. His unfinished university studies in physics, mathematics and musicology, as well as, a series of unfulfilling and unsuccessful office jobs inspired his penchant for activities in a Dadaist vein. In the early 1980s, he discovered the power and flexibility of his own vocal range, and set out on a decades-long quest to research phonetics and the expanded possibilities of the human voice.
Over time, he has developed into a specialist in the creation and performance of sound poetry and become a unique vocal improviser, supported by a powerful and uninhibited stage presence. With the use of live electronics, the scope and range of his concerts have been considerably extended. To date, Blonk’s music has appeared on 30 CDs with his own Kontrans label, as well as, many other recordings and a dozen books with his visual work published in several countries. He performs and gives workshops worldwide on a regular basis, but this performance at the Bob Rauschenberg Gallery will mark his Fort Myers/Southwest Florida debut.
As always, this ArtSPEAK@FSW concert-event sponsored by the Richard & Julia Rush Endowment is free and open to the public. Seating is limited and available on a first-come basis, so doors will open at 6:30 p.m. for this 7 p.m. special “one-night-only” public performance.
About the Bob Rauschenberg Gallery
The Bob Rauschenberg Gallery was founded as The Gallery of Fine Art in 1979 on the Lee County campus of Florida Southwestern State College/FSW (then Edison Community College). On June 4, 2004, it was renamed the Bob Rauschenberg Gallery to honor and commemorate the gallery’s longtime association and friendship with the artist. Over more than three decades until his death, the gallery worked closely with Rauschenberg to present world premiere exhibitions including multiple installations of the “¼ Mile or Two Furlong Piece.” The artist insisted on naming the space the Bob Rauschenberg Gallery (versus the “Robert Rauschenberg Gallery”) as it was consistent with the intimate, informal relationship he maintained with both the local Southwest Florida community and FSW.
The Bob Rauschenberg Gallery is open to the public and free of charge.
Gallery hours are Monday through Friday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. and Saturday from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. and closed on Sundays and holidays.
For more information, call 239-489-9313 or visit RauschenbergGallery.com or the gallery on Facebook.
Source: Bob Rauschenberg Gallery