The woman spoke about energy, afterlife
and rejoining your ancestors
while we bowed our heads
you reached into your holster
drew your revolver
and took pot shots.

If you didn’t want your bronzed baby booties displayed in public
you should’ve mentioned it while you had the chance, cowboy.

Published in little bang, Volume 1, Number 1, 2008

This is a diaristic piece that falls somewhere in the middle between the political diaries of video artists such as Dara Birnbaum, Chantal Ackerman or Krzysztof Wodiczko and the lyrical works of Bill Viola, Mary Lucier, etc. Erik transformed his father’s life stories, told at the end of his life and divided them into six segments or periods of time. At each monitor, the viewer hears one small segment of this life. However, as poignant as they are, it is the visual component that provides the heart-break. Erik chose to film a nondescript comer of Chicago, complete with weedy, empty lot, a fence and a stop light for over six months. As the time goes by we see the seasons move from spring to winter, small changes in the urban landscape, cars and people move at random; always dominated by that stop light-a perfect sundial and metaphor for the relentless march of time. Although this is a very personal piece, it challenges the viewer to enter and contemplate their own memories. Furthermore, because viewers may enter and exit at any point, everyone’s experience of the stories will be different, thus creating a form of unique and unexpected “interactivity”.
Suzanne Cohan-Lange, Founder & Chair Emeritus, Interdisciplinary Arts Department, Columbia College Chicago

Six Months in the Making

This work was filmed continuously from July 1 to December 31, 2007. The footage was then compressed at a ten-to-one ratio, producing twelve hours of video, moving in two-second increments of time. The score was composed to sync to the “ticks” of this footage, timed at 60 or 120 beats per second.

In gallery installation, six black AutoPoles each support a video/audio pair. Audio plays through focused speakers that allow the audience to listen to each narrative in open-air isolation. The black fixture rising up from floor to ceiling is strikingly similar in appearance to the lone streetlight in the work.

Erik Deerly’s “Time, Through Windows” is an installation of great quiet authority. The deceptive simplicity of the design, which actually was kind of a feat of technological coordination, particularly for that exhibition space, created a place for listening in a world and in a room where listening is becoming impossible. Erik’s working method is assured and diligent; he knew what he wanted and he achieved it. The decision to allow the structure to be part of the installation, instead of a more cloaked and hidden effect, was an interesting counterpoint to the quiet understatement of the video images. Actually, Erik has been making work of this quality for some time; this piece was not a leap forward by any means. But the maturity of his vision has been consistent, and his concerns about death and time are adult and quietly thoughtful.
Jenny Magnus, Artistic Director, Curious Theatre Branch

Though often overlooked, I believe the material surrounding the deliberate “content” acts as a lens by which we interpret that content. I explore this material in my work, looking for ways to present a unique perspective on the pedestrian. It’s All About Time investigates the perception of time and how that influences our lives and memories.

http://erikdeerly.com/binaries/fact_of_modern_life.mp3

As if you might get warm,
or wake up and need to chew.
Sourness—a look or a feeling? I’m
not sure. Mislabeled television controls.
I’ll see what I can do to fix this
error.

Published in little bang, Volume 1, Number 1, 2008

*

Rewind, thirty years:
Leisure suit and perm aside,
Dad’s never changed
Trouble with women, he says, they just want to be happy

He never remarried
Thanksgiving with my Mom—Christmas with Dad
I came home after college
He was an old man

*

He reads glossy magazines
Schools me on pop culture
On his 78th birthday he asked for Moby
Though lately he prefers punk

When I was young, I had this dream my dad was shot
in the chest with a cannonball
He came home in this dream; I could see right through
the big round hole
The wound was clean, as if he were made of cookie dough
I couldn’t bring myself to touch him

*

Gave my dad a hug the other day
We repaired his iTunes
Picked over cold lunchmeat
Snapped a few pictures, said goodbye

Three days later—snail-mail from Dad
Scrawled across the back of a carefully folded article
About Balinese Hip Hop:
I love you, too

Published in little bang, Volume 1, Number 1, 2008

On December of 2004 I set out to teach myself some basic video production software. Midway through a typical tutorial I heard news coming out of Asia that gave me cause to drop everything and begin new work with purpose. On December 28, 2004, I composed a multimedia and performance piece, Standing Waves in Shoaling Water. Written from the perspective of an American in the US attempting to get detailed accounts of the Tsunami, the piece calls for a single performer, world-band radio, tape recorders, bell and pre-recorded soundtracks. This audio work was first performed at Columbia College Chicago in January 2005.

In researching for the music composition I came across fellow weblogger Hellmut Issels, who published his personal and incredibly moving photographs of the Tsunami in Phuket. I sent him a request to use a few of his photographs for the video incarnation of SWSW that I planned to attempt. Failing to receive a response I decided to credit Hellmut and press on with this student project. The final video piece is six and a half minutes, using a stereo mix of all original audio parts. I consider the project finished not because it is perfect but because it’s time to begin new work. Standing Waves in Shoaling Water was written in memory of those lost to the 2004 Tsunami, December 26, 2004.

I have had Erik in class on several occasions, and he has continuously struck me as a thoughtful, mature, disciplined artist. In fact, his submission work for acceptance into the Interdisciplinary Arts program was already among the most memorable works of art of any student I have had in my 10 years of teaching.
Jenny Magnus, Adjunct Professor, Department of Interdisciplinary Art, Columbia College Chicago

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