Like many accomplished artists before him, Jonathon Keats was confounded by the fact that no matter what he created, it would always pale in comparison to the natural phenomenon that is the universe. Rather than paint a pretty picture and move past what vexed him, Keats delved into a study of quantum mechanics proposed by a Dr. Everett and refined by other scientists back in the 1950’s. It was this study that led him to decide that, rather than be in awe of the cosmos, he would create many new universes himself. Unlike Eric Cartman, he wouldn’t do so using brine shrimp and “seamen.” After countless universe building experiments using components compiled from eBay and other household items, Keats designed a $20 Do-It-Yourself Universe Kit. The kit, produced by Keats’ company Universes Unlimited, will be available starting on November 20th exclusively at the Modernism Gallery in San Francisco, and comes complete with with uranium glass and scintillating crystal, but requires the user to supply a mason jar, chewing gum and a drinking straw. If that sounds simple enough, the kit also provides easy instructions for you to develop your own God complex…err…we mean new universe. Also on November 20th, Keats will be unveiling his new plans to fabricate universes on an industrial level at an opening taking place at the gallery from 5:30 to 8 p.m. Be there, pick up your universe and remember, if someone asks you if you’re a god, you say yes.
Lately, all we’ve been hearing is sad news about the plight of the honeybees and their declining numbers. Thank goodness for conceptual artist Jonathon Keats‘ newest endeavor. Next week (July 19th to be exact) Keats will choreograph the first ever bee ballet.
By planting hundreds of precisely arranged flowers in neighborhoods in San Francisco, Keats claims the bees will “dance according to the locations of the flowers they’ve found.” Except, well, you won’t really be able to see it because they’ll be dancing back inside their hives. Says Keats, “The bees will dance for themselves, not for us.” Dance bees. Dance like nobody in is watching.
In his latest conceptual arts foray, Jonathon Keats is “formulating new miracles at a cosmic scale for gods to license and implement.” Huhhhh? The way he explains it — and I’m not so sure I could do much better — is that “In previous centuries, people were taken by the notion that the sun orbited the earth … the Copernican revolution upset all that. [He] figured disillusionment might be avoided in the future, and wonderment enhanced, by contriving planetary systems with multiple stars in orbit, all encompassing a planet in elaborate aerobatic configurations.” To elucidate his theory, Keats has designed 7 novel solar systems and made them available for licensing through S.F.’s Modernism Gallery. However, it need be known that buyers of his solar systems are highly encouraged to obtain the help of a qualified engineer — and is ultimately responsible for the construction of the system (Keats declined to comment about the estimated cost of construction of such a system). If you’re afraid that you just don’t have the money lying around to make one of these things a reality, don’t fret — you can hear the melodic appeal of Keats’ stellar musical composition ‘Sonata for Astral Organ’ on GarageBand — a much subtler miracle, but a miracle nonetheless.
We’ve seen Jonathon Keats‘ profound conceptual art projects before, and were blown away by their social relevance. The key breakthrough that led to Keats’ interest in the Agrifolk Art Movement was made at the MacNamara Foundation on Westport Island in Maine, where Keats was a fellow earlier this year. From his studio, Keats observed how spruce saplings moved in the wind– sensitive to their surroundings. He fastened a pencil to some of the tree branches, and put a piece of paper with each, and let the trees show their artistic abilities. You see, trees are non-sentient artists– so they don’t get tired like we do; their artistic output can happen 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. And Keats had a large supply of drawing implements– because he’s a conceptual artist, he wasn’t doing much with them, so providing them to the trees was a no brainer. Now that you’ve seen the first installment of this documentary, check out the second and third; and you can access the original press release here. I hope this project gives you the laughs it gave Josh and me.
In a world full of Crazy Frog and Chamillionaire ringtones, Jonathon Keats is breathing some fresh air into the annoying market of sounds with his My Cage ringtone. Available for download at Start Mobile, My Cage is a 4:33 “interlude of digitally-generated silence.” While the soundless ring is valuable in its own right, it also comes with a great piece of Keats’ conceptual art: a bootleg of John Cage’s heralded 1952 performance of four minutes and thirty-three seconds of silence, performed on a piano in front of a live audience. Taking advantage of technological advances since then, “My Cage” dispenses with performer and piano and auditorium, providing an experience technically more perfect than Cage’s live silence in both production and presentation, a clear improvement over the analog original. A remastering, “My Cage” is also a remix, introducing serendipity into the equation, delivering performances unpredictably, whenever calls come unexpectedly. Oh, and it’s important to note that to fully enjoy this art, and to give callers the opportunity to enjoy it, Keats recommends you turn off your voicemail.
Like many accomplished artists before him, Jonathon Keats was confounded by the fact that no matter what he created, it would always pale in comparison to the natural phenomenon that is the universe. Rather than paint a pretty picture and move past what vexed him, Keats delved into a study of quantum mechanics proposed by a Dr. Everett and refined by other scientists back in the 1950’s. It was this study that led him to decide that, rather than be in awe of the cosmos, he would create many new universes himself. Unlike Eric Cartman, he wouldn’t do so using brine shrimp and “seamen.” After countless universe building experiments using components compiled from eBay and other household items, Keats designed a $20 Do-It-Yourself Universe Kit. The kit, produced by Keats’ company Universes Unlimited, will be available starting on November 20th exclusively at the Modernism Gallery in San Francisco, and comes complete with with uranium glass and scintillating crystal, but requires the user to supply a mason jar, chewing gum and a drinking straw. If that sounds simple enough, the kit also provides easy instructions for you to develop your own God complex…err…we mean new universe. Also on November 20th, Keats will be unveiling his new plans to fabricate universes on an industrial level at an opening taking place at the gallery from 5:30 to 8 p.m. Be there, pick up your universe and remember, if someone asks you if you’re a god, you say yes.
Lately, all we’ve been hearing is sad news about the plight of the honeybees and their declining numbers. Thank goodness for conceptual artist 
In a world full of 
