Martin Perna
(b. 1975, Philadelphia, PA)
Martin
Perna is a composer, multi-instrumentalist, and conceptual utopian artist
living and working in Brooklyn, New York and Lazaro Cardenas, Michoacan, Mexico.
As
a musician, he has performed on scores of recordings, from afrobeat, funk,
dub, latin rock, and hip hop. In 1998, he founded Antibalas Afrobeat Orchestra,
a 20-plus member afrobeat/funk collective. The group has been credited largely
with igniting the new afrobeat movement after the passing of its originator,
Fela Anikulapo-Kuti, in 1997. Antibalas has toured in over 15 countries, including
appearances at the Montreux Jazz Festival, Newport Jazz Festival, Istanbul
Jazz Festival, Montreal Jazz Festival, Vancouver Jazz Festival, Roskilde (Denmark),
Quart (Norway), WOMEX (Spain), Bonaroo
(USA), and Coachella (USA), Brooklyn Museum of Art, Massachusetts Institute
of Contemporary Art, Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, Yerba Buena Gardens (San
Francisco), PS1 (New York), and Rikers Island Prison (New York).
Antibalas
has also facilitated discussions about the politics and traditions of afrobeat
music at Yale University, New York University, McGill University, Concordia College, Haverford College, and Brooklyn Friends
School.
Other
musical projects include his side project, Ocote Soul Sounds, plus collaborations with the groups TV on the Radio, Sharon
Jones and the Dap Kings, Apsci, Carlos Mena and Lázaro Galarraga, No
Surrender, Cordero, Applied Science, Dr. Israel, Adrian Quesada, Roots Combination,
and the Daktaris. He has contributed to the scores of Night Magic and The
Devil¹s Twilight with filimaker Bernardo Ruiz
Community
Art Projects, Past and Present
La
Gira Superadobe: Earth House Road Trip (Jan 12-Feb 19 2004) A 6000 mile roadtrip from Brooklyn, New
York to Lazaro Cardenas, Mexico in a vehicle running on vegetable oil in a
diesel engine. Promotion of veggie oil technology to drivers and mechanics
along the way. Initiation of vegetable oil recycling programs with participating
restaurants between Playa Azul and Caleta de Campos. Completion of Phase One
of El Temazcal (see below). Maintenance
of online public weblog chronicling the project with text and photo entries.
El Temazcal (Michoacan, Mexico, January 2003, continuing) Construction
of a temazcal (traditional Mexican medicinal vapor bath) with a group of youth
ages 6-16, using the Superadobe method of earth architecture. Phase One: construction
was completed February 2004. Phase II: Plastering and finishing begins January
2006.
First
Annual Mistletoe Bizaar (December 2003) Organizer,
cook, performer. A daylong multimedia tianguis (Mexican-style market) open to Brooklyn-based
artisans featuring live music, organic vegan Mexican food, and film screenings.
Vendors come to trade, barter and sell their books, jewelry, silkscreen art
and clothing, food, natural cosmetics, crochet wearables. Collaborators included
musical groups Fire of Space and No Surrender.
Revolution!
Celebrate 127th St. Harlem Block Party. (August 31, 2003) Co-organizer and performer. Revolution! was an all-day street event with vegetarian food,
collaborative workshops in crochet, painting, seed-sprouting, cinema, live
music, and djs. Collaborators included Brett Cook-Dizney, Rich Medina, Vee
Bravo, ACB, Nicole Tavares, the Fader Magazine and others.
Superadobe. Video
recording, editing, and sound design of a 9 minute experimental presenting
an overview of the basic concepts of superadobe architecture and documentation
of Phase One of El Temazcal project.
Alafia! (Brooklyn, NY Since, Nov. 2002 -ongoing) Organizer, performer.
An ongoing monthly music/ dance gathering in Brooklyn exploring the intersections
of funk, jazz, and Afrobeat music, through improvisation, creating a cultural
space for teaching, learning, dancing, and celebrating.
Convivial Living (Brooklyn, NY May 8, 2003) Creation and presentation/
dialogue about earth architecture, current projects, and possibilities for
convivial living. Planned and facilitated discussion, screened
"Superadobe" documentary and other video clips. Part of the
Open University free learning cooperative based in Williamsburg, Brooklyn.
Rumi*nations
(Begun Summer 2002, ongoing) A graffiti/public art project spreading the works
of the Sufi mystic poet Rumi in public spaces such as billboards, subways,
telephone booths, and doors.
A Collaboration for Peace and Democracy: (Harlem, NY September 10, 2002.) Co-organizer. A multimedia
gathering promoting imagination and collaboration as roads to approaches to
peace and democracy, with Brett Cook-Dizney, DJ Rich Medina, Red Clay Media
Collective, Robin D.G. Kelley, Elieza Kelley and Diedre Harris-Kelley. In
addition to logistics and promotion, I designed many of the collaborative
art pieces including ³Memorial to peace and democracy,² and ³Encylopedia of
Peace and Democracy².
Critical Resistance: Against the Prison Industrial Complex (Harlem, NY October 20, 2000) Co-organizer,
performer. A collaborative multimedia gathering to raise awareness of America's
prison problem and to bridge the gap between people on the inside and outside
of the prison world, with artist Brett Cook-Dizney, Antibalas Afrobeat Orchestra,
and Critical Resistance.