Pieces for an Exhibition, no. 3
2013
duration 20 minutes, 20 seconds
Instrumentation
Fixed Media
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Notes
Artist Ralph Páquin's 2013 exhibit Genes and Chromosomes included a series of original sculptures, paintings, and mixed media collages reflecting Páquin's interpretation of the visual language of genetic research. For the opening of the show, Paquin commissioned three fixed media musical works to accompany both the exhibit and the busy chatter of the visitors.
The music echos characteristics of the artworks on display as well as the genome from which Páquin took his inspiration. Each work evolves slowly. Pairs of instruments and patterns intertwine, spinning upward in asynchronous figures, often underscored by aleatoric and randomly generated passages that expand and flourish of their own accord. These eventually come together to form solid entities, cohesive and harmonic units in recognizable structures before expanding outward again, returning to their original states.
Influenced by the music of Terry Riley, Philip Glass (no. 3), and Steve Reich (no. 1), Peter B. Kay combines traditional minimalism with modern ambient music through out this series of works, and even includes audio derived from the global electromagnetic phenomena called the Schumann Resonances (no.2).