The Harmonics, 1963-68
Rodney Chang formed the unique rock band before The Beatles became known in America. The Honolulu band of seven racked up a 11-2 win-loss record in Hawaii amateur talent contests. The biggies were actually the two losses in the state's "Battle of the Bands" contests in Honolulu's Blaisdell Arena. Capacity crowds of nine thousand saw the group beat out 173 other bands from around the state (all islands) in taking second place two years in a row. Rodney left the band in 1968 to attend dental school in Chicago, Illinois. The band lives on today in the shape and form of "The Harmonics", a one-man electronic band comprised of just the original drummer of the group, Clayton Ashley, who now resides on the Oregon coast. A historic gig for the band was backing up England's Dave Clark Five when they performed in Honolulu on an around-the-world tour.
The Harmonics, 1963 photo Rodney Chang at age 17,
lst row, left; Clatyon Ashley, 2nd row, second to left
Clayton Ashley today, carrying on with the band
Stayed in college until he earned 10 degrees-
Rodney Chang, AA, BA, BA, MA, MA, MA, MA, MSEd, DDS, PhD
(although he never signs this way)
Mentioned in Ripley's Believe It or Not!
Disco Ball courtesy of Jim Mahoney, © Jim Maloney
DISCO DENTAL OFFICE & THE DISCO DOC
"Da Waiting Room", a formal art installation that pitted a pleasurable atmosphere (this was during the disco mania period of the 1970s in America) with the fearful place of a dental office. The little disco reaped national television (Real People Show, PM Magazine, The Tonight Show) and over ten live radio interview requests from across the country including Manhattan, New York (1979). When , on a live telephone interview with New York deejays the question was asked, "What is this disco-in-a-dental-clinic?", Chang proudly injected "It's Art!" into the Manhattan traffic hour!
A great place to study people's reaction to art in an " alternative space"!
Disco Dental Office Media Coverage-
1979- Real People TV Show
1980-Real People TV Show (rerun)
1985-PM Magazine TV Show
1985-The Today Show
1986-PM Magazine TV Show (rerun)
1988-Australian TV show
1979- live radio interviews around the U.S.A. including New York City, Detroit, Los
Angeles and San Francisco
Local Hawaii Media:
1979-KITV Channel 4 News
1986-KHON Channel 12 Mixed Plate Show
1986-Honolulu Magazine (June issue)- a winner in experimental photography juried contest
1985-KGMB Channel 9 Hawaii Moving Company
1979- The Honolulu Star Bulletin newspaper article, Pierre Bowman
1980-Oahu Magazine
1986-East-West Magazine
1987-Waikiki Beach Press
1988-RSVP Magazine
1998 (Spring) - KGMB TV, Honolulu,
HI, USA- Memory Minutes flashbacks to some of their most popular shows over the
past 2 decades; Disco Doc and Da Waiting Room the featured original
presentation for 1985. Memory Minutes repeat, July 26, 1998
More on this Pop Culture phenomenon
Disco Doc's 2002 discopower.com
Soho too Gallery & Loft, 1985-89
At 39, Rodney Chang founded this inner city warehouse gallery to showcase progressive works by young artists working in the Honolulu scene. Along with weird exhibits that included the gambit of empty bombshells to actual human bones as "sculpture" by invited artists, Chang maintained his own exhibit room for his first "computer art". These included framed photographs of images captured off monitor screens of initial art capability exploration on the IBM -XT and Amiga 1000, both platforms "extinct" today. The first six "paint outs" were created and displayed in this short-lived gallery experience. These first historic works were transported to and exhibited at Nishi Noho Gallery in Noho, Manhattan, New York with Brooke Shields and the late actor Fred Gwyn in attendance at the reception. In 1989 Chang served as Director of Soho too Gallery as he concurrently managed leading the Association of Hawaii Artists, over 400 strong, as their president and founded the Hawaii Computer Art Society. Till this day the AHA "Contemporary Show" at Honolulu city hall is an annual eye opening cultural event for the provincial city of Honolulu. The major show for HCAS is it's annual "Hawaiian Computer Art Exhibition". It's "9th Annual" will be in the Hawaii Pacific University Gallery, August -October 1997. Prominent national computer artists such as Laurence Gartel (NY), Joan Truckenbrod (IL), Roz Dimon (NY), Emily Young (OR), James Dowlen (CA), John Dunn (MI), Claude Horan (HI) and Daria Barclay (OR) have been invited to exhibit at past annual exhibitions. While managing Soho too Gallery Chang lived part-time in an upstairs studio-loft where inspiration came partly from the tough inner city environment. For the historical record, the late famous sculptress, Gwen Lux, listed in Who's Who of Women Artists and has one of her huge figure sculptures gracing the exterior of the Rockefeller Center in New York City, had her last public exhibition there while stricken by terminal cancer. Even in her condition and in her senior years she ceremoniously dressed elegantly in a white satin gown (complete with a petite white hat that veiled part of her fragile but angelic face) and was a superstar to behold at the last opening artist's reception of her life.
Soho too, Stanley Street; an alternative Honolulu gallery
Stanley Street and other Sorrows, a group show, 1986
Pygoya, gallery director, 1986
Soho too Gallery & Loft - domestic arguments (an employee was assaulted right at the front door), shouts of profanity, screeching tires, abandoned cars and occasional gunshots resounded in this inner city neighborhood of Honolulu as he worked nightly in his computerized art studio.
SOHO too Gallery & Loft Opening Press Release, 1985
A Bit of Soho in Lower Kalihi - Lois Taylor, Honolulu Star-Bulletin, 1986
East West Magazine (Honolulu, Hawaii) article on the gallery space by Marcia Morse, Honolulu leading art critic & writer, 1986
Initial Published Schedule Brochure 1985-86
The Pygoya House, 1994-present
designed by R.Chang
The artist residence, its frontage serving as the facade for the virtual webmuseum, was built to serve as a residential art gallery/museum. It has housed 39 of the artist's favorite computer paintings, the majority hung in the 25 foot high central gallery space.
"The Pygoya House"
Pygoya's private gallery displaying some of the "Paint Out"
computer paintings
that generated the webmuseum's "Cyberpaintings".
Artist's studio and some real space computer art paintings entitled
"Paint Outs"
or the data for Pygoya Webmuseum's Cyberpaintings
The Pygoya Webmuseum of Cyberart,
& Truly Virtual Web Art Museum
1997-present
Early VRML attempt for the Net to promote the growth of "Webism" or indigenous art arising from within the new global culture of the Internet. "Cyberpaintings" and "Cyberdigitals" are Pygoya's personal contribution to the current cyberart mix. Art in the Potpourri Gallery emphasizes the online experience. Hopefully the museum serves as an early prototype for future online fine arts sites projects by other artists and institutions during the next millennium.
Grand Lobby of The Pygoya Webmuseum of Cyberart, 1997
Once Upon a Time
Time to meditate about art- "I was in charge of the choreography of the Harmonics band. Since then I've been gyrating to popular dance movements for thirty odd years. I did the "Cha-Cha", the "Salsa", the "Bop", the "rock n' roll Swing", "surf rock" of the "Ventures" style, the "Bunny Hop", the"Twist", the "Jerk", the "Mash Potato", the "Locomotion", bobbing knees like the "Beatles", the "Monkey", the "Continental", the "Wave", the "Hustle", "Touch Dancing", the "Funk" , "Grease"-like "street" or "dirty dancing", "aerobic dancing" , a little Michael Jackson "moonwalking", the "Macarena" , a bit of "Rap" and my favorite, free ab lib expression and invention in Disco Dancing. It has been during these seemingly timeless moments on the dance floor that I spontaneously get ideas for artwork or about the nature of art. Another proven time for reception of artistic inspiration is when I run long distance. I have completed twelve Honolulu Marathons that netted long training runs peppered with unexpected artistic insight along the way (ran 2002 for my 13th!). I mention here running and dancing because these physical activities have been vital to my artistic work over the decades and it should be documented as part of my creative process." -Pygoya, 2002
Way to turn 6-0! (with way younger wife)
Had a great time dancing with my wife last night at Rumors dance club in Waikiki - March 15, 2008
EAST HAWAI'I CULTURAL CENTER'S lst /2002
INTERNATIONAL CYBERART EXHBIITON AND TRAVELLING WORLD TOUR, Hilo, Big Island, Hawaii
SHANGHAI ART MUSEUM - lst solo
computer art exhibition in Chinese art history, 1988
& Honorary Art Professor, Shanghai University - taught workshop
LAS VEGAS ART MUEUM - lst solo computer art exhibition at the museum, 1990
TARTU STATE ART MUSEUM - lst solo computer art exhibition in U.S.S.R. (Estonia), 1990
lst International Digital Art Exhibition, Kolcutta (Calcutta), India, Director, 1999
2003 Webism European Art Tour, co-founder-
Sonthofen, Paris, Frankfurt, Vienna, Budapest
From 1999 to 2003 Rodney Chang attempted to launch his dream
of a virtual cemetery for the Internet.
Here he considered an alternative resting place for one's memory. The
project was never operational or
completed due the distance between Hawaii and India which proved fatal to
successful execution of ideas
as well as effective management of development operation and control of
pilfering of funds.
Effort by Pygoya to create a
3D virtual reality community for the Internet; incomplete 2003
including Hilo Marathon, Oregon Eugene Marathon, Maui Marathon, Honolulu Marathon, Volcano Marathon, Portland Marathon, Phoenix Marathon, and Los Angeles Marathon
establish www.marathoncoursephotos.com - photojournalistic runner documenting the courses
1/2 marathon - The New Las Vegas Marathon, 2006 - because of taking the wrong turn at Four Queens, downtown (hard luck loser)
Jan. 14th '07- completed the PF Chang Rock 'n' Roll Phoenix Marathon, Phoenix, AZ
May 2nd '08 - The L.A. Marathon, LA, CA
New Web Sites (in development) during 2002-
CenterofCyberspace.com - CANCELLED
CenterofCyberculture.com - CANCELLED
SmartStones (1999) - No capital - concept of grave monuments with video/voice of
the deceased, now availabe in over 30 cemeteries so I read in Business News,
2006
Eobituary.com - PROJECT DIED
(4 years lost and $Ks of capital)
Realville.com - CHECK IT OUT
2003 - 2005 : THE EFFORT AND ENERGY INSTEAD NOW GOES INTO THE GLOBAL ART GROUP
CALLED "THE WEBISTS",
AS FOUNDER OF "WEBISM"
(1997), especially after my first "PYGOYA
EUROPEAN ART TOUR" (November 2003)
and Webism (1997)
3D effort...early Internet, virtual 3d gallery pioneering effort
AUTHOR:
"PYGOYA - A Novel Of Art Rebels & The Supernatural"
December 2006, available at Amazon.com
| Sample Chapter: PYGOYA | |
The men barreled into the hut and flung at the pig as it attempted to escape. It made a mad dash to a side of the hut, knocking down and stampeding over Leila's meager belongings. One of the men tumbled over Leila, snatching air instead of the sow's fat body. It almost made it back through the doorway before the other man lunged and secured his grasp on one, then both, hind legs. He twisted them and the pig spun awkwardly onto the mat, with a piercing squeal. The shrieking brought children running to watch the spectacle. By then, the other man, plus two others outside, had a firm grip on all four limbs. One shoved the pig's head into the ground and kept a knee down on the animal's rib cage. Poor Grunta squealed bloody murder under the cloak of darkness, perforated only by the lashing flames of the tribal fire pit. The sow was unceremoniously dragged out of the hut, bound with coconut frond twine to a wooden shaft, then carried, squirming and upside-down, with her fat belly flapping shamelessly. Such a contortion of several hundred pounds of swine, with red eyes filled with terror, was a sight and sound to behold that the children would forever remember. |
His best/latest works:
Published January 2007 Buy
"Pygoyan Oil Cyber-Paintings"- showcasing works from 1995-2005, culmination of digital art life effort- 1985-2006
"ROSWELL ENCOUNTER GALLERY"-
a novel of alien-ated
art in Roswell, N.M.
Available as of June 2007 at Amazon.com
In this novel of fiction there is a second UFO crash in Roswell in July 2007. What is the connection
between this crash and the one that occurred in 1947? Are the town folks ready this time to avoid a
military cover-up? How do the aliens use art besides public UFO sightings to get their message to us?
What is the reason for Roswell's first crop circle ever and will the government be successful in shutting
down the controversial gallery that throws new light on the intentions of ETs for our planet and species?
COMIC
BOOK VERSION
- COLLABORATION WITH JIM CHARETTE - 2007-
Under Consideration -
REAL BRICK AND MORTAR TO FOLLOW: ????
ROSWELL ENCOUNTER GALLERY
ROSWELL, NEW MEXICO
DEDICATED TO EXHIBITING GLOBAL UFO, ALIEN, SPACE, AERIAL, HI-TECH, & TRANSCENDENTAL ART
Dream - SEE THE NOVEL, ROSWELL ENCOUNTER GALLERY, DEVELOPED INTO A SCREENPLAY TO BE A SMASH HIT AT THE CINEMA BOX OFFICE
STARRY LIGHTS OVER ROSWELL
A STORY ABOUT ROSWELL & THE WORLD,
AFTER THE ALIENS LEAVE!
AVAILABLE AT AMAZON.COM IN 2008
The Red Sable Brush Society
Available at amazon.com - autumn 2008
- a novel of fiction involving mass hypnosis of artists to investigate creative vision - resulting in shocking results!
