ARTIST TALK AND DEMONSTRATION
Thursday, March 3, 6-8 PM
Join the artist for a free opening reception! Talk and demonstration will begin at 7 PM.
Artist Statement
Bosky Jangle is a foresty-feeling kinetic soundspace. In the past few years I’ve made several semi-self-playing instruments – musical instruments which, once set in motion, continue to sound of their own accord for some time, leaving the player free to layer in sounds from other sources. Bosky Jangle follows from this. Within the forest, you can give one of the bell tree branches a nudge to put it in motion, letting it dance about and ring for a bit. Soon you may randomly add in another bell-branch or two to bring in some new tonal color. After listening to the resulting blend for a time, perhaps you’ll add another branch to take the cumulative soundscape in some slightly different tonal direction. When you’ve arrived at an appealing mélange of ongoing bell tones, you can turn to one of the other instruments of the forest to improvise and melodize freely over the bells, occasionally pausing to alter the texture and tonality by activating new branches and bringing in fresh bell tones. Some of the nicest forest sounds come as the motions of the bells slowly die down, leaving ever more open textures as they settle into quietude.
About the Artist
Bart Hopkin is a musical instrument designer and maker; publisher, author and teacher on topics relating to musical instruments. From 1985 – 1999 he edited and published the journal Experimental Musical Instruments, focusing on unusual instruments with an emphasis on inventive contemporary work, primarily acoustic. During those years and since, he has published numerous books on diverse topics in instrument design and construction, as well as books and audio CDs presenting the work of contemporary instrument makers worldwide. In recent years he has served as co-curator for the Window Gallery exhibit space at Center for New Music in San Francisco. As an instrument maker, his work focuses on innovative application of acoustic principles to create both conventionally tuned instruments and more exotic sound sources.