Mudboy ( Raphael Lyon) is an American experimental musician and artist from
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 Bay ...
.
Career
Mudboy began recording experimental noise and electronic organ music in 2000 while a resident of
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 ...
and continues to do so today. Over twenty albums have been released on a variety of labels since then. His compositions have been related to early
minimalists such as
Terry Riley
Terrence Mitchell "Terry" Riley (born June 24, 1935) is an American composer and performing musician best known as a pioneer of the minimalist school of composition. Influenced by jazz and Indian classical music, his music became notable for it ...
, though he has identified
dub music
Dub is an electronic musical style that grew out of reggae in the late 1960s and early 1970s. It is commonly considered a subgenre of reggae, though it has developed to extend beyond that style.Dub: soundscapes and shattered songs in Jamaican re ...
as an important influence in interviews.
As an installation artist, Mudboy builds mysterious landscapes that hearken back to the ambient noise-filled landscapes which fill his music. A residency at the art and book store in
Los Angeles
Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...
"Family" produced "a large-scale, touch-sensitive, dark-activated, 3-dimensional, 6-oscillator spellcasting diorama and crystal cave. This installation is a meditation on the potential of fractal topography, fungal biota, and the productive necessity of decay." Other installations in
Baltimore
Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the List of municipalities in Maryland, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, and List of United States cities by popula ...
,
Chicago
(''City in a Garden''); I Will
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, and Providence also use darkness, micro LED lights, kaleidoscopic mirrors, fog machines and organic cardboard creations to create illusions. He is represented by The Mountain Fold Gallery in New York City.
The following is an excerpt from his artist statement: "My own intellectual affinity is with a time when the role of the artist, the priest and the doctor were not separated by contemporary conventions of specialization. Indeed, the operative metaphor for my work is derived from occult histories of magic and spellcasting, and from variations on the shamanic tradition. I lean heavily on the theoretical writings of authors like Ursula Le Guin and Philip K. Dick, both of whom argue that the production of "fantasy" and "miracle" is a critical, anti-fascist, and ultimately utopian occupation. It is wonder then, that I use my work to create"
References
External links
Mudboyofficial website
Raphael Lyon'sofficial website
{{Authority control
Musicians from Rhode Island
American experimental musicians