mark beam
Mark Beam created the Yellow Shark sculpture.
random notes
Date:
Sat, 16 May 1998 00:43:54 EDT
From: MARK BEAM (MARKBEAM@aol.com)
Im the sculptor who created the piece that came to be known as "the Yellow
Shark" that was used by FZ & Ensemble Modern on the project known as
the Yellow Shark....used as a performance prop,cd cover ect.... i've always have
been a big fan and i've had an interesting career
I've been productive and ive made these cow sculptures that a man named Steve
Oedekerk (a writer/directer of Ace Ventura/Pet detective, The Nutty Professor,
Nothing to Lose,Currently doing a computer generated remake to "The
Incredible Mr. Lippet with Jim Carrey) anyway....steve is making a show for Fox,
an animated series ala the simpsons, using my charectors. I've also beeen busy
makin sculpture for exhibits and commisions..
if you check out the website i have http://www.markbeam.com/
and scroll down you will get a good idea of what i've done and should be able to
give you a decent idea of what im about. I
heard of the yellow shark project when i got a call from a friend telling me to
read an article on fz in the la times calender section. in the arcticle they are
talkin about this fiberglass fish that frank had in his listening room...i thoughr,"hey,
thats me"....so i called 818 pumpkin, the guy was suprised, said they were
wonderin who the fish guy was.....a few minutes later frank called... he was
real nice...said he would include my name in any future promotion of the
project, and thanked me.Later i was contacted by the german organization who
produced the project and they paid me...it was a great little experience
.....i hear the piece is now in germany, in the offices of ensemble modern...in berlin i believe...the full story details can be found in the first page of the story in the liner notes of the yellow shark cd...
From: Yellow Shark liner notes
It rested for years beside the fireplace of Frank Zappa's
basement/listening room -a large , yellow fiberglass fish with droplets of blood
painted inexplicably around its mouth.
Today
it resides permanently in Germany, the enduring icon of one of Zappa's most
successful musical ventures, a series of concerts in September, 1992, entitled
"THE YELLOW SHARK".
The
story of how the fish got from Los Angeles to Europe is also the story of one of
the most originally realized performances of new music in history. At least,
that is, in the history of those magnificent but often conservative listening
rooms known as "concert halls".
It
begins with L.A. artist Mark Beam, a longtime Zappa appreciator who felt
compelled to anonymously bestow upon the Zappa family a Christmas present in
1988. Carved out of a surfboard, Beam's "kind of a mutant fish" arrive
unnanounced at the offices of Intercontinental Absurdities (Zappa HQ), and
eventually found its way to Frank's basement. A note inviting the owner to
complete the piece of art by placing an item of choice into the fish's bloody
jaw was ignored.
In
the summer of 1991, one Andreas Moelich-Zebhauser, manager of the European
contemporary music group, Ensemble Modern, sat in the basement with Zappa and EM
conductor Peter Rundel, discussing the music the Ensemble had just commissioned
from Frank for the 1992 Frankfurt Festival. Suddenly, Moelich-Zebhauser spied
the fish. He took its sailfin for a dorsal.
"When
I saw the yellow shark" Moellich-Zebhauser recalled in English he
apologized for, "for me it was completely clear that it must become the
symbol of our event, of our tour! Because the yellow shark, he's so pregnant
with some of Frank's characteristics. He's very hard and a little poison, but on
the other hand he's very friendly and charming. Two things which Frank can be
very often: poison for bad people, charming for good ones! Of course, also it's
such a good logo."
Not
realizing Moellich-Zebhauser's
bizarre plot, Zappa generously gave the "shark" to him, writing a
"little deed" in order to get it past any suspicious customs agents.
The deed read: "This is to confirm to whom it may concern that this yellow
shark is Andreas Moellich-Zebhauser's
personal fish, and he can do with it whatever he wants. -Frank Zappa."
"Andreas
would drool over that object." said Zappa. "He loved it. The next
thing I know, the whole project is being called 'The Yellow Shark', which he
said sounds really good in German ("Der Gelbe Hai"), and I said it
sounds really dorky in English. People think the name of the music is 'The
Yellow Shark'. I said we'll call the evening 'The Yellow Shark'. What the fuck
are you going to call it? Doesn't make any difference."
(It might as well be pointed out that there is aesthetic precedent for
sharks in Zappa's art, dating to 1971, when the Mothers Of Invention brought
undreamed fame to the lowly mudshark in a song of the same name.)