Techno icon Carl Craig brings ‘Party/After Party’ to Geffen Contemporary at MOCA

With a DJ career going back to the early 1990s and a wealth of electronic music tracks and remixes to his credit, Carl Craig is a techno icon. And from April 16 through July 23, you’ll be able to step into his world at The Geffen Contemporary at MOCA. 

“Carl Craig: Party/After Party” is a sound-driven installation inspired by the innovative DJ/producer’s own life that will lead viewers through an evening from the perspective of the DJ – and it’s not all about the raging dance floor (though at an average of 86 decibels – with a peak at 97 – you may want to bring ear protection). 

“What the piece represents is many of the spaces that DJs play in, like warehouses and these open spaces with big sound systems,” says Craig by phone from his home in Detroit. “A lot of people don’t get the experience of walking in when there is nobody in the room. This is what the piece represents as well.”

Craig recalls a moment back in his teenage years when he was helping his cousin set up the lights at a club in Detroit.

“It’s just us and the DJ, I think it was Jeff Mills too,” he says, referencing the Detroit techno superstar. “The DJ is warming up and stuff and it was just me on the dance floor. It was great! It was excellent.”

And that’s something most people won’t get to experience unless parties are your business.

“Party/After Party” was originally commissioned by Dia Art Foundation at its Beacon, New York location. In its different incarnations, “Party/After Party” morphs to fit the space in which it is exhibited.

At The Geffen Contemporary, the venue’s skylights will allow light to come in to signify that day has come; Craig recalls the surprise of seeing louvers open to reveal daylight while playing at Berlin’s famed Panorama Bar.

“It’s eight in the morning and people went nuts,” he says. “That was something that was amazing to me.”

“Party/After Party” was first presented at Dia Beacon, which is a former factory space, and it will now be at The Geffen Contemporary, which was once a police car warehouse. The venues lean into techno’s connection to industrial spaces, and the installation is designed to connect visitors to that feeling of being in the venue when the only people there are you, the DJ and the sound and light techs.

“In that situation, you can see it from a different perspective,” says Craig. “Also, you can vibe in a different way, too.’ 

For DJs like Craig, who make their own music and tour, the hours can be intense. Pre-pandemic, he typically spent Thursdays through Sundays traveling across the globe and the early part of the week in the studio.

“I love doing all this stuff,” says Craig. But he also acknowledges, “All this work is superhero work. It’s not 9-to-5 labor.” It’s his business and, part of keeping that business going, is by both making records that resonate with people and playing music that keeps them dancing. 

The “After Party” portion of the installation digs into the often grueling schedule for touring DJs. Craig likens the scenario to the many trips he’s made to Belgium.

“I would be in a hotel. I finish at 5; my ears are ringing. I’m still buzzing from the energy of the party. The only thing that’s on television is CNN that’s in English. Nothing else is in English,” he says. “And I have to try and go to sleep because they’re going to call at 11 o’clock to tell me that I’ve got to check out. So, I’ve got to try to at least get that five or six hours of sleep before they start nagging me and I have to negotiate how I can stay in the room at least for another hour before I have to sit in the cafe for a bit of time, before my pickup and then I have to go to the airport and sit around.”