Tom Nunn, the Evolution of Scatch
Sept 3- October 30.
Tom Nunn designed, built, and performed with original musical instruments from 1976 to 2022. His instruments use commonly available materials, are sculptural in appearance, utilize contact microphones for amplification, and were designed specifically for improvisation with elements of ambiguity, unpredictability, and nonlinearity. Bearing little or no resemblance to conventional instruments, Nunn’s constructed instruments are free of the hierarchy that separates non-musician or amateur from virtuosi; there was no history of technique or correct way to play these instruments. Considered in the social context of the collaborative groups in which they evolved, Nunn’s instruments can be seen to embody idealized concepts of social, political, and spiritual activism. Nunn’s instruments can also be seen as a form of composition; a compositional framework or a system with which the performer/composer interacts in real time. Nunn’s catalog of instruments are the result of a lengthy period of refinement of instrument designs that began as a freely improvised process of experimentation and discovery.
Join us for Remembering Tom Nunn on October 8 to celebrate the life and work of the featured artist