bain



this past saturday jo and i witnessed one of the most unique sound performances i've ever heard. at least in the raleigh area.

gears that haven't been oiled in decades squealed and groaned; a symphony of friction, metal on metal, rippling through the cavernous space that is the abandoned art deco styled E.B. Bain Waterworks Plant.

artist-musicians spun wheels in the depths of empty water filtration tanks summoning the ghosts of 20th century industrial progression. or the soundtrack to lost.

it was part of the bain project. a collaborative installation by twelve artists specific to the site.

it's a beautiful building, ornamentally designed for a utilitarian purpose. even the decay... almost tinsel like.

they definitely don't build them like this anymore.

it's open again this saturday may 16th. you won't see, or hear, anything like this around here anytime soon. check it out before some planning committee gets a hold of it and turns into another strip mall or condos, albeit fashionable ones.

3 comments:

Lisa Creech Bledsoe said...

Did you shoot just this (stunning) photo, or a whole bunch of them? Post linkage to Flickr if you have more; I'd bet lots of us would be intrigued and delighted.

shawn rocco said...

hi lisa,
thanks for the kind words. i do have a couple of more but nothing like this.
i'll look through them again to see if anything else stands out. if you can you should try and make it out there this saturday. definitely something to witness in person.
best -shawn

Colin said...

Amazing photos, of course, and I also have to say that the sound performance sounds like just about the coolest thing I ever heard of.

Makes me wish we'd moved to Raleigh when we had the chance.

Keep up the awesomeness.