A selection of performance, digital film and performance art based work.
Welcome to Episode 136, a meticulous dissection of an idea that hovers over the realms of theology, philosophy, and existentialism: “Why is God Hiding in Plain Sight?” As the head of the Graduate Graphic Design Department at Cranbrook Academy of Art, my quest for knowledge and understanding isn’t confined to design and art; it reaches into questions that stir the soul and provoke the intellect.
🍀🍀🍀 In this episode Elliott Earls describes the design, prototyping and fabrication of two robotic, pneumatic drum kits. The kits were hung off the stage at Music Hall Detroit during Elliott Earls Bull and Wounded Horse Show. The drum kits were synchronized to live drummer Michael Paradise. Benjamin Teague on Mandolin and Dave Staub on […]
Good Weather is an artist run contemporary art space in North Little Rock, Arkansas. The Founder and Curator is Haynes Riley. In this episode as Elliott Earls prepares for his exhibit at Good Weather, we take a close look at this unique space. We examine how family, suburbia and southern living contribute to a truly […]
In 1999 I was awarded an Emerging Artist grant by the Wooster Group in Manhattan. I spent a week working with director Richard Kimmel and the Wooster Group’s production team before a weekend of shows. The video posted here is a super short time-lapse I recently found on an old hard drive of mine. Elliott Earls performing […]
I recently purchased a massive Synology server in order to harvest and centralize 15 years of work archived to CD-ROM. This two color screen print was produce to promote one of my many performances at “Here” in Soho. This is a rough and ready screen print on newsprint from when my studio was located on Greenwich […]
This video depicts the first version of a pneumatic drum kit that I designed and fabricated for use within my “Bull and Wounded Horse” performance piece. As with most of my work, I also see these drums as sculptural objects. So while the drums find a use on stage, they are also intended to create music […]
“Catfish” a film by Elliott Earls. Was released on DVD by Emigre inc. in 2001. This film is equal parts B- Movie and performance documentary. The piece chronicles the performance work of Elliott Earls as it moves from the lab to the stage. “Catfish, a Film by Elliott Earls.” Originally Released by Emigre inc. in 2001 […]
In early 1994, with a sense of desperation and after being fired from the art department at Elektra Records at 75 Rockefeller Plaza, I decided to pursue my work in a more direct way. The first step in this process was to strike out on my own economically. I formed the Apollo Program Studio. This […]
In 2001 Emigre released Catfish a film by Elliott Earls. Catfish is a 55 minute film on DVD that documents Elliott Earls performance work. Over the course of the next fifteen days, one song from the Catfish soundtrack will be posted each day. For a limited time, the songs will be available for free download. The songs are […]
Cranbrook Designer-in-Residence Elliott Earls discusses some of his more high profile failures in his 2014 Artist-in-Residence Lecture. Entitled Good Luck, Bad Luck, Chance and Failure Earls attempts to reconcile the role “failure” has played in his development. Earls discusses being hired and subsequently fired by Rudolf de Harak at the age of twenty-three, the perils of being […]
Comic Relief: Elliott Earls, Diana Thorneycroft, Michael Scoggins June 7 – August 8 Group Exhibition As an independent artist and as an Artist-in-Residence at Cranbrook Academy of Art, Elliott Earls has worked hard to engage issues of power, desire and commerce. His work is focused on the relationships between power, technology and media. Beginning in […]
In early June 2011, I was asked to participate in an exhibition entitled Graphic Design Worlds at the Triennale Design Museum in Milan. On January 19th, 2011 I traveled with Cranbrook graduate students Nicole Killian and Wesley Taylor to Milan for the installation and the subsequent opening. In December 2008, I produced a piece entitled “Thoughts on Democracy” for the […]