Trimpin

T R I M P I N

T

Artist's Statement My work is an ongoing exploration of the concepts of sound, vision and movement, experimenting with combinations that will introduce our senses of perception to a totally new experience. Although I use the latest technology available, I work with "natural" elements—water, air, light, fire—and reconfigure them in new and unusual applications, pushing them to the limits, and beyond what we traditionally think of as their role.

I am continually seeking new forms of expression, but often using methods that may actually be ancient in origin—a tuning system that may be a thousand years old, for example, or using a computer to achieve acoustic, rather than synthesized sound. It is these very contradictions, which give my work an ambiguity that piques the imagination of viewers and continues to stimulate my own. e balance in my work between visual and aural is not coincidental—I'm not content to create something, which merely functions technically or is pleasing to the eye—it is the complexity of dimensions, which offer the most satisfaction. e time-space concept, which can be expressed musically as well as visually, has been brought to the point where we can visualize sound. is relatively new art form has begun more and more to feel at home within the arts community, but still has enough uncharted territory within its parameters to offer unlimited possibilities—a challenge that will undoubtedly keep me occupied for the next half of my life.

-Trimpin

Please contact us with any questions 206.652.5855

jessica@winstonwachter.com

www.winstonwachter.com

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IF VI WAS IX IF VI WAS IX was commissioned by Paul Allen for the Experience Music Project (EMP), to be the centerpiece of the Frank Gehry designed museum at Seattle Center.

Using found materials, or those he fabricates himself, Trimpin creates instruments designed to produce natural and/or acoustic sounds that modify or elaborate on those created by traditional instruments. More than 700 musical instruments and 30 computers were used to create a self-playing and self-tuning interactive tower.

Short stretches of music were played into a computer, then organized by Trimpin into a continuous electronic composition, with notes assigned to specific instruments.

Customized robotic guitars play one string at a time. Six guitars work together to create the sound of one chord— a mechanical metaphor for how musical styles and traditions continue to influence one another. î “e artwork is programmed to play the entire range of historical genres, from Scottish ballads to punk rock.

Equipped with earphones that allow audiences to tune in to the various musical permutations performed, IF VI WAS IX invites audience participation. î “e focuses on past and future, using musical segments to create visible patterns that aid viewers in visualizing sound, and bridges the fields of performance, the visual arts, and music.

206.652.5855

jessica@winstonwachter.com

www.winstonwachter.com

click here for video

Conloninpurple Conloninpurple was named in honor of Conlon Nancarrow, as a tribute to his extraordinary work. e installation is a 5octave instrument, spatially divided into ten groups. Tuned wooden bars, with metal resonators, are the sound sources.

All the sounds are “naturally” produced, not amplified or synthesized. e room or space is an essential part of the acoustical response, and the listener completes the multidimensional experience. e five octaves of wooden bars and two octaves of metal bars, create a total of 84 sound sources. Each hanging “column”, instrumental unit has six alternating tone ranges, divided into octave groups. As a whole, the instrument is capable of playing any musical composition when translated from a score into a MIDI format (Musical Instrument Digital Interface). Each bar has an electro-magnetic mallet system: a magnetic field activates a plunger which shoots upward and strike the bar. ey dynamic ranges are from almost inaudible to full force, so each individual bar has a great response to any dynamic level.

A kinetic occurrence results from the striking mallets, a small momentum builds and sets the hanging column in motion, so subtle turning movements are visible. e audience has the opportunity to interact with, or “play” the instrument through manipulation of the 2-wheel control console. Also, pre-composed musical sequences, which are stored on a musical data disk, can be triggered on demand.

206.652.5855

jessica@winstonwachter.com

www.winstonwachter.com

click here for video

e Pianohouse e Pianohouse is a site – specific interactive installation , activated by visitors coming in close proximity. Six upright piano frameworks– string/harp cast iron structure, including the soundboard–configured in a house “look-alike,” are retained to be the essential components of e Pianohouse. As visitors approach the structure it plays music, accompanied by an array of kinetic electro-mechanical actuators which strike, bow, pluck or scratch the strings.

Over time, e Pianohouse will musically “deconstruct” itself, as a result of weather and other environmental conditions. e instruments will collectively experience these effects, slowly changing the pitch and other parameters. is metaphor plays very well into the philosophy and work of the late John Cage: prepared pianos are playing in an unpredictable fashion until the silence takes over. is overall timeframe again is unpredictable. It could be several months or several years—only nature can affect this duration. A motion sensor activates different mechanical devices to play the designated compositions.

Some compositions explore a more percussive path; others are based more on a harmonic spectrum, to be played on the piano strings.

206.652.5855

jessica@winstonwachter.com

www.winstonwachter.com

click here for video

You Are Hear You Are Hear was created for the Seattle Museum of Art Olympic Sculpture Park. ree bright orange listening stations with giant headphones, invite park visitors to join in the artwork. Each of the three station’s experiences convey very different notions of sound. e first listening station delights with the sound of an automated toy piano (concealed in a box in the ground on the other side of the wall) playing simple chords and single notes. e middle station is more subtle: a piece of PVC pipe filled with small pebbles slowly teeter-tottering on the other side of the wall. e resulting sound is like heavy rain, ocean waves, or cicadas in the summer.

"Silence," the third listening station, inspired by composer John Cage, is perhaps the most challenging.

While straining to hear what might be coming through the headphones, you realize that all you can hear is the noise around you: the rumble and hum of traffic, the honk of a passing train, insistent bird calls. Trimpin has piped in the surrounding sounds at a slight delay and low volume, reminding us that true silence does not exist.

206.652.5855

jessica@winstonwachter.com

www.winstonwachter.com

click here for video

Trimpin Born 1951 Education 1958–70 1966–73 1979 2010

1996 Istein, Germany

1995

Formal musical training (brass and woodwinds) Apprenticeship in school for electro-mechanic engineering University of Berlin, Masters Degree in Sozial Pädagogik, Doctor of the Arts Honoris Causa degree, California Institute of the Arts

1994

Commissions 2015 Above, Below and Between, Seattle Symphony, Seattle, WA 2012 Outdoor kinetic musical fence, Seattle Children’s Playgarden, Seattle, WA 2010 Soundarch, City of Ojai, CA e Gurs Zyklus, Stanford University, CA 2009 DingDong, Private commission 2008 e Gurs Zyklus, Creative Capital, New York City, NY 2007 Liquid Letters, Snoqualmie Library, Snoqualmie, WA Klangquelle, Donaueschinger Musiktage, Donaueschinger, Germany 2006 4 Cast, Kronos Quartet, San Francisco, CA Jackbox, Private commission from Hans Lauber, Cologne, 2005 Sheng High, in collaboration with the Seattle Chamber Players, City of Seattle Office of Arts and Cultural Affairs, Seattle, WA 2004 Sheng High, Consolidated Works, Seattle, WA 2002 Derringhochdrei, Phæno science center, Wolfsburg, Germany 2001 Washington State Convention and Trade Center, Seattle, WA 2000 On: Matter, Monkeys, and the King, Port of Seattle, Seattle-Tacoma International Airport, Seattle, WA 1999 Magnitude in C#, Science Museum of Minnesota, St. Paul, MN If VI Was IX, Experience Music Project (EMP), Seattle, WA 1998 Leonardo’s Boombox, Teatro Zinzanni, One Reel, Seattle, WA M.I.A.M.I. Klangflotte, South Florida Composer Alliance, FL 1997 Conloninpurple, Holter Museum of Art, Helena, MO

1993 1992

1991 1986 1984

Flow Motion, Center of Science and Industry (COSI), Columbus, OH e Merce Cunningham Dance Company, New York City, for a composition Singing Textiles, Museum Technorama, Winterthur, Switzerland FireOrgan, Mutable Music, New York City, New York, NY Hydraulis, Seattle Center Key Arena, Seattle, WA e Project JAS 5180 Cubic Inches, private commission to create a musical doorbell Phffft, Portland Art Museum, Portland, OR D.R.A.M.A. ohno, On the Boards, Seattle, to design and develop a multimedia piece Suspended Sound Illusions, New Langton Arts, San Francisco, CA Resonances performed by the Concertgebouw Symphony Orchestra for Dutch composer Ton deLeeuw, Amsterdam, Netherlands Meridian Community Park, Seattle, WA Liquid Percussion, New York Hall of Science, New York, NY

Performances and Installations 2012 Installation at Open Space Gallery Victoria Canada Installation at the REDCAT eater, Disney Concert Hall. Los Angeles, CA e Gurs Zyklus, On e Boards, Seattle, WA Installation at the South Bank Centre London, UK Installation at the Berkeley Art Museum, Berkeley, CA 2011 e Gurs Zyklus, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 2010 Pour Crever, Breisach, Germany Installation at Bumbershoot: Seattle’s Music and Arts Festival, Seattle, WA Installation at the Cornish Main Gallery, Cornish College of the Arts, Seattle, WA Performance at the San Francisco Electronic Music Festival, San Francisco, CA Installation at the Cummings Gallery, Stanford University, CA 2009 Sheng High, Richard L. Nelson Gallery, University of California, Davis, CA Performance and installation at the Ojai Music Festival, Ojai, CA Installation at the Association of German Engineers (VDI) headquarters, Düsseldorf, Germany

2008 2007

2006

2005

2003 2002 2001

Installation at Electric Eclectics: Festival of Experimental Music and Sound Art (EE), Ontario, Canada Performance with the Kronos Quartet at Montclair University, NJ Keynote speaker at International Conference on New Interfaces for Musical Expression (NIME), NYU, New York, NY JackBox, Donaueschinger Musiktage, Donaueschinger, Germany Installation at the Rachel Haferkamp Galerie, Cologne, Germany Archival Investigations, as part of Trimpin: 25 Years of Soundsculpture Installations, Jack Straw New Media Gallery, Seattle, WA Sheng High, as part of Trimpin: 25 Years of Soundsculpture Installations, Washington State University Museum of Art, Pullman, WA Shhh, as part of Trimpin: 25 Years of Soundsculpture Installations, Suyama Space, Seattle, WA Klavier Nonette, as part of Trimpin: 25 Years of Soundsculpture Installations, Vancouver Jazz Festival, Canada, Klompen, as part of Trimpin: 25 Years of Soundsculpture Installations, Frye Art Museum, Seattle, WA Picnics, Rhythms and Vacations, as part of Trimpin: 25 Years of Soundsculpture Installations, Seattle Art Museum, Seattle, WA Conloninpurple, as part of Trimpin: 25 Years of Soundsculpture Installations, Tacoma Art Museum, Tacoma, WA Installation at the Ojai Music Festival, Ojai, CA Installation at the Port Angeles Fine Arts Center, Port Angeles, WA Sheng High Milltown, as part of Trimpin: 25 Years of Soundsculpture Installations, Missoula Art Museum, MO Phffft, as part of Trimpin: 25 Years of Soundsculpture Installations, Henry Art Gallery Seattle, WA Installation at COCA, Seattle, WA Sheng High, Consolidated Works, Seattle, WA FireOrgan, as part of Trimpin: 25 Years of Soundsculpture Installations, Museum of Glass, Tacoma, WA Installation at the Jack Straw New Media Gallery, Seattle, WA Installation at the Arizona State University Gallery, Tempe, AZ Installation at the Fisher Gallery, Cornish College of the Arts, Seattle, WA Installation at Gallery 400, University of Illinois, Chicago, IL Installation at the Neue Musik Festival, Rümlingen, Switzerland Krautkontrol, Orange County Museum of Art, Newport Beach,CA

1999

1998

1997

1996

1995

1994

1993

Installation at Sound Symposium, Newfoundland, Canada Installation at the Boise Art Museum, Boise, ID M.I.A.M.I. Klangflotte, Miami, FL Installation at the SoundCulture Festival, Auckland, New Zealand Performance at Musica Viva Festival, Munich, Germany Conloninpurple, Suyama Space, Seattle, WA Installation at the Madrona Automatic Gallery, Seattle, WA Installation at Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, San Francisco, CA Phffft, Miami, FL Installation and performance at the Winter Garden, World Financial Center, New York, NY Conloninpurple, Klangturm, St. Pölten, Austria Installation at the Donaueschinger Musiktage, Donaueschinger, Germany Performance at the International Music Days, Mexico City, Mexico Installation at the Marstalltheater, Munich, Germany Installation at the Muziekcentrum IJsbreker, Amsterdam, Netherlands Installation with the Merce Cunningham Dance Company at BAM, New York, NY, and at the Paris Opera, Paris, France Performance and installation at New Langton Arts, San Francisco, CA Collaboration and performance with Merce Cunningham Dance Company, New York, NY Installation at Sonambiente, Berlin, Germany Installation at the Apollo Huis, Eindhoven, Netherlands Performance at the Wexner Center for the Arts, Columbus, OH Performance at the Festival Journées du xxe siècle, Montreal, Canada Global Soundings, Tacoma and Spokane, WA Liquid Percussion at the Port Angeles Fine Arts Center, Port Angeles, WA Arte Virtual, Madrid, Spain Installation at the New York Philharmonic, Lincoln Center for the Arts, New York, NY Performance at Circulo de Bellas Artes Madrid, Spain Installation at the Donaueschinger Musiktage, Donaueschinger, Germany Installation at the Logos Foundation, Ghent, Belgium D.R.A.M.A. ohno, On the Boards, Seattle, WA Performance at e Kitchen, New York, NY D.R.A.M.A. ohno, Iowa City, IO

1992

1991

1990

1989

1987

1986

D.R.A.M.A. ohno, Walker Arts Center, Minneapolis, MN Installation at the Palacio Bellas Artes for the World Music Day Festival, Mexico City, Mexico Phffft-Arrrgh, Tacoma Art Museum, Tacoma, WA Phffft, Portland Art Museum, Portland, OR Installation at the Pacific Science Center, Seattle, WA Performance at the Spring Music Festival, California Institute of the Arts, Valencia, CA Performance and installation at the Sound Symposium, St. John’s, Newfoundland, Canada Performance at New Music Vancouver, Vancouver, Canada Liquid Percussion, New York Hall of Science, New York, NY Performance at Walker Arts Center, Minneapolis, MN Suspended Sound Illusions, New Langton Arts, San Francisco, CA Liquid Percussion, Museum Technorama, Winterthur, Switzerland Circumference, King County Arts Commission and Soundwork, Seattle, WA Sound Vision at COCA, Seattle, WA Installation for the Rube Goldberg exhibit at the Exploratorium, San Francisco, CA Performance at Rutgers University, Newark, NJ Performance and installation at Bumbershoot, Seattle, WA Performance at National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM), Mexico City, Mexico Telluride Institute’s Composer-to-Composer Symposium, Sheridan Opera House, Telluride, CO Performance at New Music America ’89, Brooklyn, NY American–Holland Line transatlantic live performance via satellite SMART ART, Delft University of Technology, Delft, Netherlands Floating Klompen at Jan van Eyck Academie, Maastricht, Netherlands Installation at the Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam, Netherlands International Computer Music Conference (ICMC), e Hague, Netherlands Art and technology exhibition at Eindhoven University of Technology, Eindhoven, Netherlands Percussive installation of ninety-six Dutch wooden shoes at the Festival of New Music, Middelburg, Netherlands

1985 1984

Performance at Shaffy eater, Visuell Music Festival, Amsterdam, Netherlands ree Ply, On the Boards, Seattle, WA Performance at the New Music Festival, Middelburg, Netherlands

Grants and Awards 2010 4Culture, Seattle 2008 Creative Capital, New York 2007 Bookmark Artist 2007, University of Washington Libraries 2005 Office of Arts and Cultural Affairs, City of Seattle 1999 Goethe Institut 1997 John Simon Guggenheim Fellowship MacArthur Fellowship 1996 AT&T 1995 e Lila Wallace–Reader’s Digest, Artists at Giverny, France 1994 Mutable Music, New York Artist Trust, Seattle Western States Arts Federation (WESTAF), fellowship MGM Media Gruppe München, Germany, also in 1998 Foundation for Contemporary Performance Arts, Inc., New York e Conlon Nancarrow and Yoko Sigiura Fellowship 1993 Seattle Arts Commission Meet e Composer 1992 National Endowment for the Arts On the Boards, Seattle 1991 New Langton Arts, San Francisco 1990 Apple Computer, Inc., Cupertino Washington Arts Commission Goethe Institut 1989 King County Arts Commission, Washington Michael Mc Niven Fund Art Matters, New York Goethe Institut Seattle Arts Commission 1988 New Langton Arts, San Francisco 1984 Goethe Institute