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Home » Blogs » the linster's blog » Kaki King turns her music into art

Kaki King turns her music into art

by
the linster

One of my favorite things about AfterEllen.com is that it introduces me to brilliant lesbian entertainers, some of whom I would never know otherwise. Of course, I’m as skeptical as you are when an artist is called a “brilliant lesbian.” But I doubt I’ll get much grief for attaching that description to Kaki King.

Actually, “brilliant” seems inadequate in view of King’s talent. Her mastery of the guitar has impressed everyone from Rolling Stone to TED. And just in case you haven’t seen that remarkable TED performance, you should watch the 15-minute video.

Now King is taking her guitar virtuosity to the visual arts world with “The Exhibition,” which opens Friday at the Littlefield Gallery in Brooklyn. King told Spinner that the concept came from a comment by King’s friend Lennie Peterson on her guitar playing:

He thought it would be interesting to see what would happen if I put paint on the tips of my fingers and then played the song. He thought that everything I am doing was very choreographed and methodical, and wondered what it would look like — where my fingers would travel. That was really the start.

King invited 16 people — recruited from MySpace and Facebook — to create original visual pieces, each based on one of her songs and using an actual guitar. Ovation donated the blank guitars.

Photos documenting the process appear on King’s Facebook page. Here’s a sample.

You Don’t Have to Be Afraid

Never Said I Love You

I Need a Girl Who Knows a Map

At the opening, King will return to the project’s inspiration by putting pink paint on her fingers and performing “Playing With Pink Noise” on her trademark blue Ovation guitar.

The guitar later will be auctioned to benefit VH1’s Save the Music Foundation. The other guitars will be on sale by the individual artists.

A photographer will document “The Exhibition” for online viewing by those of us who can’t make it to the show. I hope that includes a video of King’s performance. If the show is successful, King may expand it into a traveling show. I hope she has a lot of those blue guitars, just in case.

What do you think of “The Exhibition?” If you participated, what Kaki King song would you use? If you are lucky enough to attend, come back and tell us about the show.

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    • Submitted by
    the linster
    on August 6, 2009 - 2:00pm.
    TAGS :: 
    limors's picture

    I have a problem taking her seriously.

    Submitted by
    limors (169 posts)
    on August 6, 2009 - 5:13pm.

    It's her name. The king of poo???

    But her guitar skills are awesome.

    TehMorp's picture

    huh.

    Submitted by
    TehMorp (173 posts)
    on August 6, 2009 - 5:21pm.
    I always relate it to Khaki, which I think is an awesome name.
    Psychopractor's picture

    Love her

    Submitted by
    Psychopractor (83 posts)
    on August 6, 2009 - 5:41pm.
    Totally love Kaki King. She's got some serious talent at creating great pieces of music. Wish I was in NY to see it. Way to go Kaki!
    Brutal_Romance's picture

    kaki...naked...in bed

    Submitted by
    Brutal_Romance (384 posts)
    on August 6, 2009 - 5:45pm.

    *zones out a little*

    sorry, its just, there should have been a warning before they post the pic. :P

    I love Kaki king, and I feel like the only one who loves her in my region. No one I know gets her music, everybody got to know her though when her 'hands' appeared in August Rush (which were cute but Im not lusting over a little boy's hands, its HER HANDS, something that my gf doesnt understand and she still calls me a pedu for it) anyways where was I?!

    yes I love her, and the guitars are the coolest things I've seen yet.

    Brutal_Romance's picture

    ah crap!

    Submitted by
    Brutal_Romance (384 posts)
    on August 6, 2009 - 5:59pm.

    double post...T_T

    the.rural.juror's picture

    To all guitarists out there..

    Submitted by
    the.rural.juror (46 posts)
    on August 6, 2009 - 6:01pm.

    try playing her songs.  I assure you, you'll end up having a different set of calluses on your hands. Heck, I don't know if she ever plays on standard tuning. I've nothing but respect for decent guitar-tapping players like her, Andy McKee, and Erik Mongrain.

    Check out her performance on Letterman: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=shYdqbJgQdc

    I guess Dave Grohl said it best: “There are some guitar players that are good and there are some guitar players that are really fucking good. And then there's Kaki King.”

    And oh, see you guys tomorrow if you're attending :D

    outoutout's picture

    Oh, wow.

    Submitted by
    outoutout (20 posts)
    on August 6, 2009 - 7:05pm.

    Years ago, I wrote a short story about a sexy young girl who played a mean guitar.

    Kaki King is the personification of that character.

    *swoons*

    s a r a h's picture

    Kaki is so bloody talented i

    Submitted by
    s a r a h (211 posts)
    on August 6, 2009 - 9:32pm.

    Kaki is so bloody talented i could cry. well maybe not cry, but if i met her i would be damn speechless. I would love to see 2 oclock painted on a guitar :)

    To every feminist action, there is an equal and opposite beauty reaction- Naomi Wolf

    pancreas's picture

    What about a brilliant

    Submitted by
    pancreas (314 posts)
    on August 6, 2009 - 10:52pm.
    What about a brilliant plastics engineer slash lesbian? :)
    illusorydesign's picture

    !!!!

    Submitted by
    illusorydesign (32 posts)
    on August 6, 2009 - 11:37pm.

    so i just watched that TED performance and i fell in love with her music all over again. just the way she plays the guitar with all the percussive elements and everything. and her intro to the show! hahaa she's pretty damn awesome. /endrant

    i wish i could go to the exhibition! but i for sure will be looking online to view the photographs and hopefully, videos. 

    a_l_y_s_s_a's picture

    I love Kaki! She's so

    Submitted by
    a_l_y_s_s_a (114 posts)
    on August 7, 2009 - 12:00am.
    I love Kaki! She's so awesome. I totally want a guitar like hers.
    Ines's picture

    Goodness

    Submitted by
    Ines (325 posts)
    on August 7, 2009 - 12:19am.

    She's an incredibly talented guitarist. I would take guitar lessons from her. I hope to play good like that one day lol Even to hold her guitar that would be an experience all in itself, and Damn she's hott too. 

     

     

     

    www.myspace.com/segavo

    www.myspace.com/guitarrachica

     

    Manuela's picture

    -*

    Submitted by
    Manuela (178 posts)
    on August 7, 2009 - 12:23am.
    But her music was already art!
    Ashley's picture

    I cannot wait...

    Submitted by
    Ashley (49 posts)
    on August 7, 2009 - 1:37am.

    ...to go to this exhibition.

    "Diamonds deep in the earth sparkle though they can't be seen... open yourself." - K.K.

    mnml.oner's picture

    hmm

    Submitted by
    mnml.oner (65 posts)
    on August 7, 2009 - 3:31am.

    Im going & it should be good,

    I think its the coolest musician held - fan project, creatively wise

    Certainly an interaction you don't hear of happening too often

    Judging from the facebook photos people really invested in it. Can't wait to see what they did in person

    taslh's picture

    I actually have that poster

    Submitted by
    taslh (9 posts)
    on August 7, 2009 - 12:02pm.

    I actually have that poster of her in bed right above my desk!
    signed and everything!:)

    the.rural.juror's picture

    Who else was there?

    Submitted by
    the.rural.juror (46 posts)
    on August 8, 2009 - 6:29pm.

    Here's a video of her last night: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0411BgdNNDk However, the spot where I was isn't exactly the best angle to capture her playing with paint. 

    rileyanne's picture

    thank you so much for covering this!

    Submitted by
    rileyanne (4 posts)
    on August 8, 2009 - 11:19pm.
    My friend Eric and I did the guitar for These Are The Armies of the Tyrannized (photos here: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=93516&id=78255311611&ref=mf )and it means a lot to see Kaki's project getting press. 
    the linster's picture

    Congrats!

    Submitted by
    the linster (1026 posts)
    on August 10, 2009 - 2:26pm.
    Thanks for posting -- your design is quite provocative. Hope the showing went well.
    mixtape218's picture

    i wish i could play like

    Submitted by
    mixtape218 (284 posts)
    on August 9, 2009 - 11:53pm.
    i wish i could play like that, and i love to watch it, but i could never just listen to it. it's so sporadic, and i cant handle that. unless she's singing, the guitar stuff isn't my favorite

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