An Arsenal of Oddstruments
Ken Butler’s “hybrid instruments” - Axe, crossbow, and assault rifle violins? Shovel tablas, easel guitars, umbrella igils, and toothbrush violas? Oh my! Watch Ken put a mic in his mouth and play his entire face!
Instrument ridiculousness!
I saw this man’s art show live. Most of the items are not functional, but are made from interesting items to feed his ego. He applies more meaning to what he creates than what could possibly be attributed to these pieces of “junk art”. A large portion of his creations seem to be thrown together over a period of a day or so with super glue and a nail gun, one of his “pieces of art” is various items one would find on a beach picnic arranged in what might possibly be described as strange ways, and this display is told to be about humanity’s addiction and attachment to technology, when it very obviously is what this man saw one day while on ex. I do not think that you should add this man to your website, you have shown many people including myself interesting and as the title of your site describes, “odd” instruments, and other things of a musical nature. This man does not deserve the publicity that you would be giving him. He especially does not deserve the thousands of dollars he gets in return for allowing his collection of junk to be displayed in museums for the average person to gawk at.
Anonymous, thank you for your interesting perspective and your compliments. I will continue to write about whatever and whomever I find interesting. Thanks for reading =)
I understand, and I did not mean to say that I thought you should change your site in any way, I was just offering my opinion. Email me sometime if you like to have discussions about strange musical instruments, I have a few ideas that you might find interesting.
Hey Anonymous ……. To feed my ego?? Why so intimidated by what others do? If you are referring to my exhibition in Dayton (?), your comment contains many factual errors and poor observation on your part. Who said all my works were all functional? Not me. Who cares? Do you judge art by the amount of time it takes to make? You seem to have a very limited view of art and music. Can you name any object of any kind that could not be “played” by a skilled musician if properly amlified? My concert in Ohio with my instruments sold out the auditorium with a standing ovation. Although I respect your right to express your opinion, you seem to be inadequately informed about the art world. What’s wrong with art made from junk? It has been around for nearly 100 years.
Ken… I don’t know who the hell this person “Anonymous” is (why do you need to be anonymous anyway) but I don’t think he/she gets what the process and downright insanity of being an artist is. I’ve known your artwork for around thirty two years when I was working with Bob Gardiner at the PCVA and have always been impressed by the joy and integrity of your work and how much thought and effort you put into it. By the way the first piece of junk art was when some early man looked down at a rock and said to himself “this looks cool” Keep at it man. Rufus
an argument over odd instruments.
in a slightly sick way i like it. not everyone is going to like a guitar made from a shoe but there you go. creative people will do what the flip they want and that’s what makes them much more interesting to me.
anyone can make a sound from a computer and plug ins. most musicians tend to spend more time talking about pro tools vs logic or what great new analogue patches they’ve just bought.
for crying out loud, this ken butler chap is totally dedicated to his passion and he’s leaning right into it!
good on him.
the only issue i have is that he hasn’t played in london.