MISANTHROPE CA: AN IMAGE AND SOUND STREAM

images: © rob kulisek
text: david lieske, rob kulisek
music: misanthrope ca

East Hampton, NY, 2016

Through a fateful encounter in the Fall of 2015, a special opportunity presented itself to us:
The offer was to rent a worn-out mansion that was located near the famous town of Amagansett in East Hampton during the month of January 2016 for very little money.
All we would have to do was to make the estate, which was up for sale and subsequent demolition, accessible to potential buyers.
The Chance to explore the seasonal dark-side of the southern shores of Long Island which are internationally known for their sun-drenched beaches and cheerful summer hideouts to Manhattan’s Elite triggered pleasurably dark fantasies of icy solitude and isolation in both of us.
Amagansett in the depth of winter seemed like an almost too ideal equivalent of frost-bearing, Scandinavian coastal towns that we had read about in the context of the development of a particularly atmospheric and grim guitar sound, known as Black-Metal.
Two years before we had started our first efforts to create an American version of this abysmal ambience, that we both adored for many years, out of the bedroom of a small house in East Hollywood.
The thrilling present promise of having the chance to chase the unholy reminisces of famous Hamptons’ She-tragedies such as the mystery-shrouded deaths of glamorous women like Edith Metzger or Edie Bouvier Beale invigorated our fantasies to continue what we had started in California.
Little did we know that only a few days after our arrival at this disheartened wooden complex we would find ourselves trapped in a polar vortex of historic dimensions.
Imprisoned by an unreal site of frozen remains to a highly developed civilisation that seemed to have vanished entirely in view of these inhumane conditions we began a routine of expedition like walks and daily experimentations with musical equipment.
The ever-present odour of black mould from the basement bathrooms found itself easily up into the attic, where we had set up a provisional studio.
This special room was octagon shaped and seemed suitable as the hidden chapel to a demonic death cult. Small-sized triple bunk beads to each side intensified a ghostly presence of past days children’s laughter and terrible accidents that must have happened on the narrow and more than steep stairs leading up to this bedroom of evil dreams.

Misanthrope ca - lp, 2016