Nicky Enright is an artist whose practice is informed by his activity as a world music DJ. He takes on the persona of DJ Lightbolt, a sound artist who incorporates music from all over the world. He has traveled extensively to gather his sounds, learning languages to communicate more effectively with his musical resources. In the U.S. he applies his research by performing for audiences in nightclubs and lounges, as well as in contexts like galleries and museums. He shares his research with people in an attempt to reach as many people as possible in his performances and interventions. He invented a universal currency named The Globo. It is devised from a fusion of legal tender from over twenty-five countries to suggest a vision of world unity, and by contrast, the ever increasing reach of globalization. He often walks around with the currency, handing it out freely to pedestrians whereever he may encounter them. The exchange provokes conversations about the legality of the Globo, and the current state of local and global economies. In one instance, he attempted to exchange the Globo at a currency exchange in the airport, where it took the cashier a while to realize that the currency was not legal tender. In another project entitled, Rome, he designed matchbooks with a spin on the colloquial expression, “Rome wasn’t built in a day.” Enright’s version replaces the word “built” with the word “burnt.” Like The Globo, Rome is distributed to his audience, implicating the one who is in possession of the matchbooks in the construction and destruction of the empire. In the tradition of his activity of free distribution, he mounted the Free Flag on a flag pole outside of the Andrew Freedman Home in the Bronx. Instead of representing a territory, it stands for those who yearn to be free. For those who encounter the flag, it symbolizes global citizenship, and represents those who wish to travel and live wherever they choose. The flag is Enright’s contribution to the dialogue about the contemporary experience of immigration, travel, and homeland. His generosity is tied to the concept and enactment of freedom. He admires the way music is able to communicate with people all over the world, and he applies this transcendent quality to his projects that travel from hand-to-hand and ear-to-ear.
Click here to see the un-edited footage of Nicky.
Images:
Images of Globos
Rome matchbooks
Images of the Free Flag installed outside of the Andrew Freedman Home in the Bronx
