BOOK LOVER: Drain cites the link with Poe and Lovecraft.
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Collective efforts are a signature of Providence’s creative underground, so it’s no surprise that the Shangri-la-la-land component of Wunderground utilizes this approach to create a loose sculptural interpretation of a village.
Shangri-la-la-land highlights eight veterans of the local underground -- Mat Brinkman, Brian Chippendale, Jim Drain, Leif Goldberg, Jungil Hong, Xander Marro, Erin Rosenthal, and Pippi Zornoza.
Their pieces include what RISD curator Judith Tannenbaum calls Marro’s 26-foot “fantasy castle cathedral;” Hong’s simulated “glowing jellyfish” made with recycled, sewn, and screen-printed plastic bags; Brinkman’s 15-foot papier mache monster figure, Zornoza’s woodcut signs and sequence of lamps; and Drain’s use of a totem pole from the museum’s collection.
Drain, a Fort Thunder denizen who gained attention as a member of the former art-music collective Forcefield and who last year won the Baloise Art Prize in Switzerland, took part in this Q&A via e-mail.
What do you most love about Providence?
The passion and commitment the artists have for the city, the history buried deep within this place, the diversity of people, its connection to [Edgar Allan] Poe and H.P. Lovecraft.
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What do you most dislike about Providence?
The disconnect between the classes and communites that really live next door to each other. A healthy city does not necessarily need one class or culture, but maybe a regard, recognition, and respect between the different groups could be better. Also, development, in itself, is not a bad thing; but development/restoration in a place without recognizing the pre-existing communities is counter-productive. I wish that Providence supported education more and that more of the extensive soil pollution was cleaned up.
What, to you, is most distinctive about the city’s underground arts scene?
The need for experimentation, the acceptance of the weird, the driven nature of its artists, the shared sense of momentum, the sensitive and conscience natures of the artists here.
How is it different from those in other cities?
It is too difficult to compare Providence to other places. But, this place has a really unique sound. It is not necessary to pin it to a specific visual style.
How would you describe the effect of development in once-overlooked parts of Providence, and what does it mean for the future of the city’s creative underground?
I cannot answer this since I don’t know.