SCORE CD PACKAGE
Score is the result of a non-stop conversation between two artists in a car, hurtling through space from the East Side to the West Side of Washington state, and back, in February 2018. Jawing through shared interests as rangy as brain/mind science, astronomy, history, materials, construction, and art and science in general, at the end of the road trip the collaboration had taken shape: Timothy Ely would draw six graphic scores bound into a one-of-a-kind manuscript book, like those for which he is known, and Larry Ellingson would create music inspired by those graphic scores.
Encapsulated in this package is the music, along with small images of the graphic scores that inspired it.Using both found and synthesized sound, Ellingson composes music that realizes the visual compositions created by Ely. Reflecting the nature of Ely’s drawings, the compositions are dense and intricate soundscapes.
Ellingson says, “I’m excited to share one of the most interesting musical projects I’ve done. Translating images into sound and music comes from a centuries old practice that came into its own in the 1950s and 60s avant garde art community. The process has taken me into areas I’ve always wanted to explore, using both familiar technology and altogether new tools, creating music I’ve never heard before. Tim’s one-of-a-kind creation, a finely crafted book that will join the collection of the Lilly Library at Indiana University, will also contain a compact disc of the music.”
Ely says, “At the outset, I established a few rules for myself, primarily that the drawings would be about six minutes in length as you move left to right across the page – the idea of time in a drawing! I began to look for visual concepts containing both contrast and overlap, giving the compositions an album-like continuity and connective tissue, as well as interesting and evocative ideas to ground the potential sound. The resulting music Larry pulled out of these graphic scores is extraordinary, adding unexpected layers to the experience of my drawings.”
About the artists:
Timothy C. Ely has been working as a visual artist since the late 1960s. He received an MFA in Design from the University of Washington in 1975 and since that time has been making one-of-a-kind manuscript books housed in public and private collections worldwide. He lives in Colfax, Washington and is represented by Lux Mentis, Portland, Maine.
Larry Ellingson makes highly compelling objects, a kind of additive sculpture, combining assemblage, painting, photography and fabrication. He is also a sound artist, composing, performing and producing music utilizing electronics and found sound. He lives in Spokane, Washington.