William Robinson’s Young Prayer takes the best part of rock and roll—the smashing—and replays them over and over for your visual and auditory amusement during Nocturne (#ex12, St. Matthew’s United Church, 1479 Barrington). We ask Robinson why he hates guitars so much.
Q: What led to you developing this idea?
A: As a teenager, discovering bands like Sonic Youth and Nirvana and watching videos of them ritualistically destroying their instruments on stage had a profound influence on my imagination. After becoming better versed in electric guitar-centric music I discovered that the forefathers of Kurt Cobain and Lee Ranaldo—like Jimi Hendrix and Pete Townsend—had been throwing, smashing and destroying their guitars long before.
Like any spontaneous and original expression it has been subverted by the mainstream and dragged into the abyss of mediocrity. This was evident when Miley Cyrus started smashing guitars.
Since studying at NSCAD and encountering the work of artists such as Rita McKeough, Peter Flemming and Adam Kelly, I’ve wanted to create electronic based kinetic sculptural artwork. The idea of mechanizing a self-automated electronic version of smashing a guitar seemed like a good enough idea to start with. I proposed the idea to the CFAT Electronics Art Residency Program last year and it got accepted. That was the push and support I needed to bring it to life.
Q: How do you think the sacred location of the church and the profane act of smashing a guitar are going work together?
A: I think there are many similarities between music—specifically rock ‘n’ roll—and religion. For me as a teenager, specific music genres took on an extremely important role. They facilitated a certain spiritual catharsis I was not interested in finding in the context of organized religion. I see the act of smashing a guitar being analogous to prayer as is an assertion and celebration of one’s beliefs. I hope Young Prayer will work well both conceptually and aesthetically in the context of St. Matthew’s Church. The fact that it’s a beautiful acoustic and aesthetic space along with its local history as an alternative music venue makes for a pretty good match.
Q: What has been your all time favourite guitar smash? (Or smasher?)
A: Any of Kurt Cobain’s documented on stage guitar smashes are amazing. Also, Jeff Beck’s guitar smashing scene in the film Blow Up is classic.
This article appears in Oct 6-12, 2011.
