To Become Like Music - Peter Schmidt at Mummery+Schnelle

"For Esme", The Boyle Family archive materials, listening stations.


"Droplet", in the main space.


"For Esme" in the ancillary space.


Read an excellent review by Richard Mills at Enoweb:
http://music.hyperreal.org/artists/brian_eno/

Here is a small except, perhaps the most intriguing aspect of the exhibition:

"But to my mind, the greatest prize in the exhibition (which explores the connections between sound and visual material) must be the six short pieces of stereo audio by Peter Schmidt from 1969 (OK - one from 1978). They may now sound like humdrum feedback noises and tape loops but at the time they were being recorded (and these appear/claim to be among the very earliest of British audio experimental tapes in existence), they were genuinely ground-breaking. They seem quite self-conscious in places, but the naivete and assurance are quite a breath-taking combination. Wonder if Peter ever had any idea that these tapes (that were allegedly found in a bag in Norfolk) would re-surface in the 21st Century and be a point of interest, if only for the next few weeks, to a London audience?"

Note: The tapes have actually been in the care of Cally, a student of Peter's at Watford. These tapes have been transferred to digital media for this exhibit by associates of the curator, Prof. Chris Townsend, at the Department of Media Arts of the University of London.

The exhibition runs through 16 August. For more information:
http://www.mummeryschnelle.com/pages/exhibitions_current.htm

Peter Schmidt - self portrait

Peter Schmidt - Self portrait, watercolour, 9.5 x 7.5 cm, no date
(Collection and by kind permission of Adalsteinn Ingolfsson)

"I think I must have met Peter through Eggert Pétursson or Ingólfur Örn Arnarson, two Icelandic artists who had brought him to the Suðurgata 7 gallery in Reykjavik for a show.

Since I had studied art history in London and was fairly familiar with the art scene there, I naturally gravitated towards Peter. I took him on rides in my car, both around Reykjavik and the lava landscape surrounding the city.

Peter´s presence was inspiring. You felt him listening intently to whatever you had to say, and his queries were always quiet, to the point, with enough unsaid to make you think.

There was a Buddist quality about him; one felt that he had found himself an utterly peaceful level of existence. At the same time there was something sad or melancholic about him.

I remember most clearly an evening at my home, when I cooked him the simplest of meals, fresh flounder with potatoes. While I cooked Peter found an LP of mine featuring Casals playing the Bach cello suites. In the end we both sat on the floor, ate the fish and listened to the music. Peter deemed this a" perfect evening". I think it was partly as a thank you for the fish that he sent me his self portrait."

Adalsteinn Ingolfsson

This self portrait watercolor painting is thought to be the only one Peter Schmidt ever painted. Soon to be featured prominently at http://www.peterschmidtweb.com/.

Peter Schmidt - "To become like music"...

"Droplet", 1966 (collection of John Emr)

"For Esme", 1966 (collection of Rory Walsh)

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These two paintings by Peter Schmidt will be exhibited as part of a

group show called "To become like music", alongside works by

Mary Bauermeister, Mark Boyle & Joan Hills, Earle Brown,

Sylvano Bussotti, Paul Caffell, John Cage, Alexander Calder,

Nam June Paik, and Karlheinz Stockhausen.

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This exhibition is being curated by Professor Chris Townsend,

at the London gallery of Mummery+Schnelle,

83 Great Titchfield Street, W1W 6RH. The exhibition will run from

July 15 through August 9, with a private viewing July 16 from 6-8.
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Newly discovered reel to reel tapes of Peter's

sound art have been restored by the University of London's

Department of Media Arts, and will accompany the exhibition.

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For further details, follow this link:

http://www.mummeryschnelle.com/pages/exhibitions_futuredetails1.htm

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My special thanks to Sebastian Boyle of the Boyle Family

for introducing me to Chris Townsend.

And then there were 12...

#1335 of 1500

#990 of 1500

Two more versions of the "Tiger Mountain" prints have been

added to the collection, courtesy of Dr. Steven Lynn of California,

the world's foremost collector of "Tiger Mountain" prints.

PSW now has 12 examples of this edition of 1500 unique

prints assembled for your perusal.

www.PeterSchmidtWeb.com