Like no other music of its era, Moby's oceanic, bluesy electronica has summed up the millennial turn's rootless melancholia, in massive worldwide hits like "Porcelain," "Natural Blues" and "Why Does My Heart Feel So Bad?" His 1999 album Play sold over ten million copies and converted a whole generation to electronic dance music. With Destroyed, Moby has created a visual analogue to his gorgeous soundworld. The photographs in this volume record the sizeable portion of his life that is spent shuttling from plane to bus to venue to stage to party to hotel room to oblivion. "I hope that somehow in these pictures," Moby writes, "I'm able to convey the mundanity of touring, juxtaposed with those moments of the strange and/or sublime. One minute on tour you're by yourself in a soulless airport, the next minute you're flying over the most beautiful landscapes on the planet. One minute on tour you're by yourself in a soulless backstage area, the next minute you're on stage pouring your heart out to 75,000 people. Touring is all contrasts and strangeness, and that's what I'm trying to convey in these pictures." The 60 photographs in Moby: Destroyed accordingly veer from crowdedness to isolation, capturing the extremes of a life lived on the road. Also included is Moby's new album of the same name. Richard Hall, aka Moby, was born in Harlem, New York City, in 1965. Having studied classical guitar, piano and drums as a child, and after stints in various punk bands, he debuted in the early 1990s alongside Orbital, The Prodigy and Aphex Twin, as a representative of a new generation in electronica, emerging from Ambient House and Techno, and foreshadowing Trip Hop. Moby's bestselling 1999 album Play propelled him to worldwide fame; its successor, 18 (2002), earned gold and platinum awards in over 30 countries. Already famous for his veganism, Moby made his authorial debut in March 2010 as a contributor to Gristle: From Factory Farms to Food Safety, a collection of essays on the dangers of eating meat.
Featured image, above, was taken by Moby in Toronto. His caption reads, "i believe she is the nun of the future."
Below, footage from Moby's July 21 performance in Bologna at L'Inde le Palais.
PRAISE AND REVIEWS
ARTnews magazine
Robin Cembalest
"Though the images are spontaneous, they show an instinctive desire for symmetry and abstraction. At the same time they are weirdly personal, portraying a man who is always alone in a crowd."
"…i hope that somehow in these pictures i'm able to convey the mundanity of touring, juxtaposed with those moments of the strange and/or sublime. one minute on tour you're by yourself in a soul-less airport, the next minute you're flying over the most beautiful landscapes on the planet. one minute on tour you're by yourself in a soul-less backstage area, the next minute you're on stage pouring your heart out to 75,000 people. touring is all contrasts and strangeness, and that's what i'm trying to convey in these pictures. i also love the vacuum-like aesthetic of touring. 99% of the time on tour you find yourself in completely life-less environments (hotel rooms, dressing rooms, airports), and then all of a sudden you're surrounded by thousands and thousands of people…
Acclaimed recording artist MOBY will participate in three events next week, in support of Destroyed, his new book of photographs made while on international tour, published by Damiani. Please scroll down for event details and a selection of images from the book, captioned by Moby.
Image below: "chicago: as i suffer from insomnia i tend to see a lot of cities late at night when everyone’s asleep but the lights are still on. i love the way cities are empty and brightly lit
at 3 a.m." continue to blog
FORMAT: Hbk, 11.5 x 9 in. / 120 pgs / 77 color / Audio CD. LIST PRICE: U.S. $39.95 LIST PRICE: CANADA $50 ISBN: 9788862081559 PUBLISHER: Damiani AVAILABLE: 5/31/2011 DISTRIBUTION: D.A.P. RETAILER DISC: TRADE PUBLISHING STATUS: Out of print AVAILABILITY: Not available TERRITORY: NA LA
Like no other music of its era, Moby's oceanic, bluesy electronica has summed up the millennial turn's rootless melancholia, in massive worldwide hits like "Porcelain," "Natural Blues" and "Why Does My Heart Feel So Bad?" His 1999 album Play sold over ten million copies and converted a whole generation to electronic dance music. With Destroyed, Moby has created a visual analogue to his gorgeous soundworld. The photographs in this volume record the sizeable portion of his life that is spent shuttling from plane to bus to venue to stage to party to hotel room to oblivion. "I hope that somehow in these pictures," Moby writes, "I'm able to convey the mundanity of touring, juxtaposed with those moments of the strange and/or sublime. One minute on tour you're by yourself in a soulless airport, the next minute you're flying over the most beautiful landscapes on the planet. One minute on tour you're by yourself in a soulless backstage area, the next minute you're on stage pouring your heart out to 75,000 people. Touring is all contrasts and strangeness, and that's what I'm trying to convey in these pictures." The 60 photographs in Moby: Destroyed accordingly veer from crowdedness to isolation, capturing the extremes of a life lived on the road. Also included is Moby's new album of the same name.
Richard Hall, aka Moby, was born in Harlem, New York City, in 1965. Having studied classical guitar, piano and drums as a child, and after stints in various punk bands, he debuted in the early 1990s alongside Orbital, The Prodigy and Aphex Twin, as a representative of a new generation in electronica, emerging from Ambient House and Techno, and foreshadowing Trip Hop. Moby's bestselling 1999 album Play propelled him to worldwide fame; its successor, 18 (2002), earned gold and platinum awards in over 30 countries. Already famous for his veganism, Moby made his authorial debut in March 2010 as a contributor to Gristle: From Factory Farms to Food Safety, a collection of essays on the dangers of eating meat.
