Public Art
Click here to view the news release from the City of Ojai
Internationally acclaimed sound sculptor Trimpin will create Sound Arch, a 12-foot sound sculpture, as the permanent art piece for the new Libbey Bowl, Ojai’s outdoor performance venue. Trimpin’s Sound Arch will be unveiled on June 5, 2011 during a community Day of Music, a free event to celebrate the Bowl’s re-opening. Trimpin was selected by the Ojai City Council from more than 30 artists.
Inspired by the curved shape of Libbey Bowl, the12-foot sound sculpture Sound Arch will consist of 24 re-claimed metal tubes of varying lengths with resonators and internal mallet mechanisms, which will produce melodic sounds similar to a xylophone or chiming instrument. Positioned in front of the new Libbey Bowl as the main entry point, Sound Arch will be activated by a motion sensor as visitors approach the sculpture, playing electronically pre-composed musical sequences. The permanent art piece which will be open year-round will also have the ability to be operated manually or as a stand-alone instrument.
Trimpin is a MacArthur “genius grant” award-winning sound sculptor, composer, musician, and inventor who describes his work as “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 he uses the latest technology available, he works with the “natural” elements of water, air, light and fire – and reconfigures them in new and unusual applications, pushing them to the limits—and beyond—of how they are traditionally viewed. Trimpin built his first sound sculpture at the age of 8 at home in Efringen-Kirchen, Germany. He apprenticed as an electro-mechanical engineer, which fed his passion for acoustic sound spatialization, and later moved to the United States because Americans throw out more of the high-tech junk that he requires for his work. Trimpin’s sound sculptures, both whimsical and serious, have appeared all over the world. Trimpin, who is currently artist-in-residence at the California Arts Institute, returned to the Ojai Music Festival in 2009 with two sound sculptures: Sheng High, a 2005 fusion of seeing and hearing sound that is entirely unique, and his recent sound sculpture—Guiter-Toy— seen for the first time in Ojai.
