The Station Hill Intermedia Lab presents Landfall, an hour-long enactment of a there-and-back poem of that name by Sam Truitt (words) fused to the deep made immediate in Stephen Lewis and Mike Ratti (sound) as seen through Richard Kroehling (vision). Based on a round-trip 2013 oceanic excursion from Manhattan to Christiansted in the Virgin Islands and points between, Landfall shakes senses that chronicle what the eye cannot see or ears hear by way of what they do see, hear and sometimes feel: “…[A]s last light leaves the harbor with us following the Hudson Canyon out the New York Bight by way of Ambrose Horn into the darkness like an animal wrong biting back moans—that come to one disappearing—….” The question that seems to linger in the sound is where on Earth do we belong—and the answer is here.
About Kroehling, Lewis, Ratti & Truitt
Richard Kroehling is a multidisciplinary artist, film director, painter and poet. His works includes feature films, mainstream television, non-fiction, video art, photography, poetry and installation media art. Richard’s works have been exhibited at film festivals, art museums and galleries around the world including MOMA, WAAM, WAH, the Jewish Museum in New York, the Brooklyn museum, Cinema Gaumont, Paris, Kunsthalle in Copenhagen, and Art Basel Miami. Of Kroehling’s film WORLD WITHOUT END, an experimental hybrid straddling nonfiction and fiction was commissioned by England’s Film4, one critic called it, ”a movie making wild style that delivers you into a scorching disturbing world.” Richard has directed over sixty hours of television. His controversial series CONFESSIONS was called by critic Roger Ebert, “more like art installation then mainstream TV, bold and visionary.” A ten-hour version was installed in Palazzo Della Triennale, in Milan and Copenhagen art festivals. Richard wrote and directed EINSTEIN starring William Hurt, of which the LA Times wrote, “The most astonishing, poetic compression of grand ideas ever achieved on film.” Of 2B THE ERA OF FLESH IS OVER, a feature film starring James Remar (48 Hours, Django Unchained), based on his work on renowned futurist, author and director of Google research Ray Kurzweil’s New York Times best seller The Singularity Is Near, has been hailed as critics hailed the film, “This breathtaking movie depicts a decaying world on the cusp of great transformation is confronting as it is mesmerizing!” His video art piece SHADOW CASTING ME was part of director Lars Von Trier’s Gesamt project at Copenhagen Biennial. Richard is currently completing a feature length performance film called AFTER featuring poets (Alicia Ostriker, Leonard Cohen and poet and actor Geza Rohrig (Terrence Mallick’s “The Way Of The Wind”) ); and the artist narrative film, I LOVE YOU SHELLY WEINTRAUB “A Woman’s Life In 31 Scenes”, starring Florencia Lozano (Narcos). Richard has adapted for the screen and will direct WAR in 2022, by celebrated Swedish playwright Lars Noren.
Stephen Lewis is a visual artist, musician/songwriter, curator, teacher, and carpenter. His solo art exhibition galleries and museums include, among others, Terzo Piano (Washington, DC), USSA Fine Arts (Brooklyn, NY), and the Arlington Arts Center, and his work is in the permanent collections of Corcoran Museum of Art, NMP/Apnet and The Artery Collection, among others. He is the founder of Signal 66 Art Gallery (Washington, DC) and has been the recipient of numerous recognitions, including a at Handprint Workshop project fellowship, DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities artists’ grant and a Washington Arts Museum commission. His work has been reviewed or featured in diverse publications, including; Art News, Timeout, High Times, Casa Vogue, The New Yorker and the Washington Post, in which Ferdinand Postman writes, “The message that American pop culture is polluting the world isn’t anything new. But, Lewis sends it in such an over the top manner that the viewer gets pulled into the imagery. How a person who looks as serene and contemplative as Lewis does in his self-portrait can channel so much anger into his paintings is anyone’s guess. But it isn’t just the anger that makes his work compelling it’s the skill with which he translates it into art.” He is the co-publisher of the art/satirical print newspaper “The Quiet American” and the hard-driving lead-guitar player of the Royal Wylds. A graduate of University of Virginia (BFA) and Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts (MFA), he lives in Kingston, NY.
Drummer and avant-garde performer Mike Ratti, is a long-time music veteran everywhere inside many hit songs and records, starting with the 1969 hit “Na Na Hey Hey Kiss Him Goodbye” (Steam, Mercury Records). He has toured and recorded with many other acts, including Jay Black and the Americans, Rex, The Nails, and Orville Davis. On Jay Black’s passing (November 2, 1938 – October 22, 2021) he writes:
RIP
JAY BLACK (Jay and The Americans)
So sad to hear just now about the passing of Jay…My first professional job was recording with Jay and The Americans in 1968 at Studio 3 (Elephant Five Records) I played drums on their comeback album “Sands Of Time” and a follow up album “Wax Museum” both on “United Artist Records” produced by Tommy Kaye RIP…In 1971 I played some live shows around New York City and New Jersey. I was on drums, Walter Becker RIP was on Bass guitar with Donald Fagen on keyboards…Jay and his fellow Americans split up as a band and Jay went out as “Jay Black and The Americans” I was called in to play drums again with Jay in 1981/82 I haven’t seen or talked with Jay for many years. I send my sincere condolences to Jays family, friends and all of his fans…He was a great guy to work with, he treated me very well especially when I was just starting out..Jay once said to me “if I see any of the musicians sweating on stage during a performance …they’re fired”… I always had a handkerchief in my back pocket and I still carry one HaHa!!!
Condolences To Marty Sanders, Sandy Deane, Howie Kane, Kenny Vance
“JAY AND THE AMERICANS”
Sam Truitt was born in Washington, DC, and raised there and in Tokyo, Japan. He is the author of the ten works in the Vertical Elegies series, among others in print and other media, including most recently Tokyoatoto and the forthcoming state/shaft shaft/state. Among other recognitions, he is the recipient of numerous Fund for Poetry awards, a Contemporary Poetry Award from the University of Georgia, and a Howard Fellowship. The producer and a co-host of the podcast Baffling Combustions and the Station Hill Intermedia Lab, he lives in Woodstock, NY. For more visit: samTsong.