Aryan   &    Djeff

Kaganof    Babcock

[Aryan Kaganof lives in South Africa and Djeff Babcock in Europe.]

back to "The Work of Art..."

I HAVE BEEN ASKED TO SAY A FEW WORDS ABOUT MY COLLABORATION WITH ARYAN
KAGANOF. HOW LONG DID WE COLLABORATE? ABOUT FIVE YEARS. WHAT MEDIAS? EVERYTHING WAS POSSIBLE. FIRST IT CONSISTED OF DELIRIOUS RENDEZVOUS,
THEN ACCELERATED INTO CINEMA AND EVENTUALLY OVERFLOWED INTO LIVE ACTION-PERFORMANCES WHICH FUSED ALL OF THESE  PREVIOUS ASPECTS.
THIS COLLABORATION, AS IT TURNED OUT, WAS CLOSER TO A COMBUSTION.
WE WERE LIKE TWO BUTCHERS OF CULTURE.
BRESSON, BATAILLE, CHASSON, NERVAL, KIERKEGAARD, CELINE, BACH, NIETZSCHE, ANCIENT BABYLONIAN SCRIPTURES,  AND A WILD ARRAY OF MUSICAL STYLES PUMPED UP LIKE A CHARLIE PARKER ATTACK. I COULD RUN OFF PAGES OF SPECIFIC REFERENCES- BUT THAT DOESN'T MATTER. WE ATE IT ALL. THIS MADE US FIERCE AND PENSIVE. THE POINT WAS TO INGEST IT ALL AND LET IT DRENCH OUR SPIRITS, AND THEN, ONCE ASSIMILATED, TO SHIT IT OUT AGAIN- SHEDDING ALL THE FORMALISTICS AND RETAINING THE ESSENCE. (I SHOULD NOTE HERE THAT ARYAN WAS ALWAYS BETTER AT SHITTING QUICKLY THAN I WAS. I HAD A TENDENCY TO CHEW LONGER).
THEN, WITH THIS DISTILLED SUBSTANCE, WHICH BURNED LIKE HELLFIRE (THE FIRE OF TRUST AND BELIEF) WE PUSHED EVEN FURTHER.
THE AIM WAS TO TAKE KNOWLEDGE AND FUEL IT WITH LIFE, OR VICE VERSA. IN ANY CASE, TO TAKE THESE TWO DEAD ENDS AND FUSE THEM FATALLY TOGETHER, SO THAT THEY CREATED A DOUBLE HEARTBEAT. WE CONCLUDED THAT IF A PERSON DIDN'T HAVE THIS DOUBLE HEARTBEAT THEY WERE CONDEMNED. WE DIDN'T TAKE
ANY STEP UNLESS IT WAS SIGNALED FROM THE DIMENSION OF LIFE ITSELF,
RATHER THAN FOLLOWING ANY ARTISTIC OR CULTURAL DISTRICTS. WE WERE
ALWAYS CAVALIER, UNIQUE AND IMPOSSIBLE.
THOSE WERE FINE, BRISTLING DAYS.

DJEFF BABCOCK