John Duncan & CM von Hausswolff Stun Shelter All Questions / Nicola Fornello Available through the Helen Scarsdale Agency: $35.00 Earlier in 2003, long time colleagues John Duncan and C.M. von Hausswolff collaborated on an installation at the Nicola Fornello Gallery in Prato, Italy. Judging from the massive 50 page, full color book that accompanies the cd of Stun Shelter, the two artists presented individual installations whose sound elements bled together within the space to form the collaborative aspect of their work. Duncan revisted the pornographic "John See" films he produced in Japan during the mid-80s. That series accurately followed the strict Japanese rules about the visual representation of sexuality, in which no penetration or pubic hair can be shown. As for the soundtrack to those films, Duncan combined distant shrill orgasms from the actresses and his own claustrophobic, breathy vocalizations, slowly uttering optimistic phrases in Japanese. Despite their content, Duncan's renderings of language take on an aura of mechanical monstrosity. Hausswolff's installation was equally disturbing, having designed a haute couture bar and lounge for the sole purpose of huffing glue and paint thinner. The Hausswolff soundtrack featured several tone generators droning toward infinity. The amalgamation between the Duncan and Hausswolff soundtracks works incredibly well, offering a backbone to Duncan's vocalizations and contextually specific details to Hausswolff's numbing minimalism. With Duncan having a whole slew of releases that have just come out at the end of 2003, Stun Shelter is easily the best of the lot, and certainly ranks as one of his best records alongside Phantom Broadcast. At the same time, this album (especially with its highly informative book) encapsulates many of the ideas and themes (i.e. the transgressions of cultural norms, the never-ending inquisitions of power structures, the experiential realizations as existential proofs, etc.) that makes Duncan and Hausswolff such amazing artists.