Forcefield was an American

noise Noise is unwanted sound considered unpleasant, loud or disruptive to hearing. From a physics standpoint, there is no distinction between noise and desired sound, as both are vibrations through a medium, such as air or water. The difference aris ...

band and art collective, founded in 1997 in

Providence, Rhode Island Providence is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Rhode Island. One of the oldest cities in New England, it was founded in 1636 by Roger Williams, a Reformed Baptist theologian and religious exile from the Massachusetts ...

, closely associated with

Fort Thunder Fort Thunder (1995–2001) was a warehouse on the second floor of a pre-Civil War former textile factory in the Olneyville district of Providence, Rhode Island. From 1995 through 2001, the space was used as a venue for underground music and events ...

.Smith, Roberta (16 December 2006).
Looking for Graphic Lightning From Fort Thunder
, ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...

''. Retrieved 19 October 2012.

Work

Known for performing in colorful full-body knit-wear of their own design, the band rarely played outside of Rhode Island but did two US tours with their Fort Thunder roommates Lightning Bolt. Members included Meerk Puffy (

Matt Brinkman Mat Brinkman (born 1973 in Austin, Texas) is an American artist and electronic musician. Also known as Matt Brinkman, Meerk Puffy, Mystery Brinkman, Brinkman, Brinkmangler, and Mucid Cuspidor. He is based in Colorado. History Brinkman was a ...

), Gorgon Radeo (

Jim Drain Jim Drain (born 1975) is an American mixed media artist. Drain often makes work collaboratively, first within the collective, Forcefield (1996–2002) and also with artists Elyse Allen, Ara Peterson, and Ben Russell, respectively. Life and wor ...

), P Lobe ( Ara Peterson), and Le Geef (Leif Goldberg). The group become more widely recognized after being included in the 2002

Whitney Biennial The Whitney Biennial is a biennial exhibition of contemporary American art, typically by young and lesser known artists, on display at the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York City, United States. The event began as an annual exhibition ...

, but disbanded shortly afterwards. According to writer

Rachel Kushner Rachel Kushner (born 1968) is an American writer, known for her novels '' Telex from Cuba'' (2008), ''The Flamethrowers'' (2013), and '' The Mars Room'' (2018). Early life Kushner was born in Eugene, Oregon, the daughter of two Communist scientist ...

, the group's Whitney Biennial installation was "a pandemonium of ear-cracking sound, seizure-inducing films, and bewigged mannequins sheathed in the collective's trademark knit Afghans, which look like they were produced by a team of Taylorist acidheads with industrial looms." ''Third Annual Roggabogga'', the soundtrack accompanying their Biennial show, was released as a CD by Load Records in 2003. Later that year, Bulb Records put out the posthumous ''Lord of the Rings Modulator''. In addition to performing, the group produced a number of single channel video works to be projected behind them during performances. The videos are both serious and sublime, while simultaneously maintaining a sensibility of deadpan humor and menace.

References

External links

Forcefield Bio
at

Electronic Arts Intermix Electronic Arts Intermix (EAI) is a nonprofit arts organization that is a resource for video Video is an electronic medium for the recording, copying, playback, broadcasting, and display of moving visual media. Video was first develope ...

br>eai.org

American artist groups and collectives American noise rock music groups Musical groups from Rhode Island Load Records artists {{US-experimental-band-stub