John Fekner has addressed issues involving concepts of perception and transformation, as well as specific environmental and sociological concerns such as urban decay, greed, chemical pollutants, mass media and Native American Indians.
16 Facts About John Fekner
1.
2.
John Fekner began writing poetry as a young teenager, and his first outdoor graffiti in 1968 were the words Itchycoo Park painted at Gorman Park 85th Street Park in Jackson Heights, Queens.
3.
John Fekner appropriated the name of the popular hit written and recorded by the Small Faces about a park in Newham, England.
4.
Ten years later, John Fekner used the park as a base for his stencils projects.
5.
In 1976, John Fekner began to spray paint temporary messages onto buildings in New York City using hand-cut cardboard stencils and spray paint.
6.
In February 1980, John Fekner began working in, around, and out of Fashion Moda, a storefront for experimental art and cultural exchange, and an outpost for showcasing graffiti, breakdancing and rapping.
7.
In 1982, John Fekner curated From The Monkey To The Monitor which featured his NOTV4U2C wall mural and audio loop installation, Don Leicht's metal Space Invaders, Fred Baca's drawings and a live performance by Phoebe Legere.
8.
In reaction to the desolation of the abandoned burnt-out buildings of the South Bronx, John Fekner stenciled Last Hope in large letters above one crumbling structure.
9.
John Fekner received his first international award at Toronto's Video Culture Festival in the Videotex category for Toxic Wastes From A to Z, an 8-bit computer graphics animation created at AMC which featured a rap by K-8 students from a South Bronx school.
10.
John Fekner began collaborating with Bronx artist Don Leicht at PS1 now called MoMA PS1 where they shared a studio in 1976.
11.
In 1983, John Fekner formed his own band City Squad composed of musicians and non-musicians as an extension of Queensites, a group of teenagers from Jackson Heights who assisted with the outdoor stencil work.
12.
Idioblast is an album by an American artist John Fekner, recorded and released in 1984 under the name John Fekner City Squad.
13.
Idioblast, released on John Fekner's own independent record label Vinyl Gridlock Records, is an experimental and eclectic mix of songs featuring extensive sampling and tape loops of TV, radio, Native American voices, phone and airport controller transmissions over rock, rap and hip-hop beats.
14.
John Fekner recording tracks in 1983 and 1984 with his fellow musicians Dennis Mann, Sandra Seymour, Jim Recchione, Paul Sottnick, Robert Morales, Richard Maffei and Steve Grivas, releasing Idioblast in May 1984.
15.
John Fekner, who was not trained as a musician, would use whatever tools were necessary when composing his music on electronic keyboards and drum machines.
16.
John Fekner experimented and extensively utilized Votrax and Software Automatic Mouth, two new text Speech synthesis programs for personal computers.