Ari Benjamin Meyers
Marshall Allen, 99, Astronaut, 2025, Film Poster (Marshall's Dream), 2025
€ 175
OrderThe composer and artist Ari Benjamin Meyers works at the intersection of music, performance, and visual art. As part of his solo exhibition at Kunstverein Braunschweig, he presented his film Marshall Allen, 99, Astronaut (2024). At the center of the work is musician Marshall Allen, longtime director of the legendary Sun Ra Arkestra, considered a pioneer of Afrofuturism. This movement weaves together African history and mythology with science fiction, technology, and visionary imaginaries of the future. For his film, Meyers invited Allen to respond to two scores composed specifically for the project. During the rehearsals, a musical conversation unfolds—one about spontaneity, discipline, and the act of letting go of memory.The camera follows Allen through his home in Philadelphia: amid instruments, props, and images of cosmic worlds, past, present, and possible futures intertwine.
For the exhibition, Meyers collaborated with the Berlin-based graphic studio HIT to create a series of film posters. One of the designs has now been repurposed as a high-quality special edition for the annual publication: the poster shows Allen with his Electronic Valve Instrument, embedded in a shimmering, cosmic collage. Floating fragments of the image open windows into the film: a visual orbit through a life filled with memory and music.