Sarah Dahnke

I made my first-ever trek to the Hyde Park Art Center specifically to view "Pathways to Unknown Worlds: Sun Ra, El Saturn & Chicago's Afro-Futurist Underground, 1954-68." Comfortable North Siders often act as if Hyde Park is in another world. Given Sun Ra's blatant fascination with outer space, the setting seems all too appropriate. This exhibit, the first section of a bit of a triptych of Sun Ra-related artwork, is a collection of a wide assortment of artifacts from the legendary jazz musician's time in Chicago. Sun Ra lived here for fifteen years, a time in which he formed the El Saturn label and became incredibly involved in a secret society called Thmei Research, which was dedicated to mystical, occult and paranormal studies, focusing on space and the future. The beliefs he solidified during this time not only bled into his musical ideas, but they also inspired writings and street-corner lectures, many of which were previously unknown and unavailable to the public.

As I made my way around the perimeter of the gallery, Sun Ra and his orchestra repeatedly chanted the word "interplanetary" over the loudspeakers, putting me in a dream-like state perfect for dealing with such experimental and mythological visual concepts. There is a special nook set up in gallery four, which contains the exhibit, for viewing rare slides and film of the bandleader. Claude Dangerfield, who was responsible for a series of records that displayed a unique blend of space concepts and iconography, designed many of the album covers in the gallery. A few covers designed by Ra himself hang around the gallery, displaying very abstract patterns, solid and curvy lines, and two-toned color palettes. Because Sun Ra and his orchestras recorded hundreds of albums, the covers could not always be incredibly intricate or complicated. Through a special agreement, El Saturn was sometimes able to get small numbers of albums--as few as twenty--pressed, and the covers would be silk-screened or block-printed one-by-one at the El Saturn headquarters. Some of these printing blocks are on display with their respective covers. As the curators noted in the exhibit brochure, this process helped define the independent American record company.

Continuing with this concept, there is a glass case full of typed advertisement requests, business proposals, contracts and even a hand-written rough draft for a press release. This selection of artifacts really drives home the do-it-yourself mentality of El Saturn records. Every aspect of the label, owned by Sun Ra and business manager Alton Abraham, seems incredibly personal and thoughtful. As a viewer, you can't help but be taken aback by his vast collection of materials because the sheer volume and variety are so impressive. Perhaps the most notable portion of this exhibit are the broadsides and leaflets from Sun Ra's manuscripts and street-corner lectures. A copy of his most widely circulated document, "Solaristic Precepts" is on display next to a lesser-known document titled "The Wisdom of Ra," which is a theory about human life and partnerships, based on the number two. The jazz musician's street-corner lectures are believed to have influenced Malcom X, as Ra was a pioneer of Afro-Futurism, a concept that aims to overcome social and racial classification through technology and futuristic mythology.

"Pathways to Unknown Worlds" provides an incredibly comprehensive perspective of Sun Ra's days in Chicago, a very seminal time in the man's life and career. Also noted by the curators, the man we see displayed in this exhibit is a much more subdued version of the colorful bandleader we imagine when we think of Sun Ra. But because his Chicago years were such a turning point in his life, this time period is perhaps the most noteworthy of his career. The Sun Ra extravaganza will conclude with a weekend symposium November 11-12, titled "Traveling the Spaceways: the Astro Black and Other Solar Myths." This event will involve panel discussions, musical performances and readings that investigate the impact Sun Ra and Afro-Futurism made on history and visual culture.

"Pathways to the Unknown" and "Interstellar Low Ways" shows at the Hyde Park Art Center, 5020 South Cornell, (773)324-5520, through January 14.

(2006-10-17)

Also by Sarah Dahnke

Art Break
"We move toward mobility"--This particular line from poet Richard Fox highlights the core of the Museum of Contemporary Art's current "12 x 12" show, "Shared: Chicago Blue Bikes," by artist Kevin Kaempf's organization, People Powered.
(2006-09-12)

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