Each year Marfa Myths’ lineup edges further into sophisticated territories. It’s more art summit than concert series as alum like psychic engineer Liz Harris’ ambient project Grouper, sound artist Gregg Kowalsky and Jefre Cantu-Ledesma interact with the open, eerie West Texas landscape, rescuing the town’s mystery from its travel-porn Instagram associations. Artists are there for more than a set. They collaborate, with the features of the place and with one another. In the case of special surprise guest Dev Hynes and then up-and-comer Connan Mockasin in 2015, the pair cut a record while they were in town, and the vinyl was sent later to festival-goers who’d purchased bundle tickets.
This year’s initial lineup just dropped. Set for April 12-15 are British post-punk act Wire, Brazilian king of tropicália Tom Zé, way-paving synthesist Suzanne Ciani, Detroit dance producer Omar-S, and country legend/visual artist Terry Allen from Amarillo, who personifies the first brink of Marfa’s unfolding. See the rich schedule so far for year five, and find early bird tickets in a limited run here. Below is more information on visual and conceptual art installations during the festival, from Myths HQ:
Based on the organizing principles from Dr. Timothy Morton’s 2013 book, Hyperobjects, a so-named collaboration with Ballroom Marfa will use ideas from Morton’s theory to explore the current ecological crisis. Alongside works from various contemporary artists, the project will also include objects from the local environment.
The festival will host Imaginary Concerts, an exhibition and live printing, in honor of the release of Peter Coffin’s new book: Imaginary Concerts Volume 2, a series of monographs between Coffin and various concert daydreamers. The project was inspired by the iconic posters of LA’s Colby Poster Printing Company, who printed the tricolor gradient posters from 1946 until 2012. A collaboration between Coffin, Anthology Editions and Stumptown Printers, the exhibit will display original prints from Coffin’s Untitled (Designs for Colby Poster Company), 2008. Additionally, a letterpress will be on hand, courtesy of Stumptown, to create original tricolor posters. Each day’s lineup will be represented on these posters, and are an exclusive to Marfa Myths attendees.
