Artbank with Theo

Mike Kelly called him the most important post-psychedelic artist... This week Theo interviewed one of the “truly original voices of American comics, Gary Panter. His latest comic - Songy of Paradise is an inspired interpretation of John Milton’s retelling of the story of Jesus being tempted by Satan after being baptized by John the Baptist and fasting for forty days and nights in the Judaean Desert. Panter’s version doesn’t rely on Milton’s words, but faithfully follows the structure of Milton’s Paradise Regained, with one notable exception: Jesus has been replaced by a hillbilly, Songy, who is on a vision quest before being tempted by a chimeric Satan figure. Stay tuned to Artbank to hear about this epic new work from the artist’s mouth.

Artbanker Theo set a bit of a record for us today, talking to 11 GUESTS IN THE HOUR. Ka pai. Firstly we heard from Amy Weng, Kalee Jackson and Rebecca Lal, three of the minds behind Te Tuhi's latest publication THE HIVE HUMS WITH MANY MINDS.  This 130 page full colour limited edition printed publication features essays by Tessa Laird, Gregory Kan & Ruth Watson, and Bruce E. Phillips, plus additional contributions by exhibiting artists such as a foldout page work by Monique Jansen and texts by Shahriar Asdollah-Zadeh and Charlotte Drayton, all complemented by graphic design by Kalee Jackson.

Then we had the Bulgasari Aotearoa crew in studio. Throughout June and July, Lee Hanjoo (이한주), Lee Bong Gyo (이봉교), Yukie Sato, Taekyung Seo (서태경) and Soojung Kae (계수정) will be in residence at the Audio Foundation HQ in central Auckland where they will collaborate with local musicians – producing concerts and recordings while working toward an exhibition for the Audio Foundation gallery. Travelling with the Korean artists as key collaborators are renowned NZ musician John Bell (vibraphone/percussion) and sound artist Ian-John Hutchinson (prepared harmonicas). These two artists have been based in South Korea for over 5 years and are established figures in the Korean experimental music scene.

Rachael talked to Bianca Rocca and Toya Webb about their show 'Working Title', on at the George Fraser Gallery. Theo was in studio and played some Korean experimental music from the Bulgasari community. He also played some commentry from John Waters, the director of Multiple Maniacs.