The art season is in full swing this fall on Capitol Hill. Just now there is a unique opportunity to view two separate installations by the noted Seattle artist Trimpin. Currently showing at the Seattle Asian Art Museum in Volunteer Park and at the Frye Art Museum on Terry Avenue in First Hill are, respectively, "Picnics, Rhythms and Vacations," and "Klompen."
Beth Sellars, curator of Suyama Space, organized a series of exhibitions that are part of a two-year, statewide retrospective honoring Trimpin's 25 years of living and working in Seattle. Shows have been held at the Henry Art Gallery, the now defunct Consolidated Works, the Museum of Glass, Washington State University Museum of Art, Suyama Space, the Vancouver Jazz Festival and the Tacoma Art Museum. Susan Rosenberg at the Seattle Art Museum and Robin Held at the Frye were the coordinating curators for each respective piece. Taken together, these works are an excellent introduction to Trimpin's creative genius.
That word - genius - is often used to describe Trimpin. In 1997, he was named a John T. and Catherine D. MacArthur Foundation fellow. These genius awards are grants that give an artist an unrestricted $500,000 over five years to pursue his or her artistic aims and objectives. That same year the Guggenheim Foundation recognized Trimpin as a fellow in its program. His work appears all over the planet with a permanent installation at the EMP in the Seattle Center and at SeaTac airport.
Trimpin - he's used only his surname since his late teens - began playing music as a boy in Germany, mastering the flugelhorn, trombone, flute, saxophone and timpani. His first sound sculpture was created with old radio tubes. He joined the radio's internal dials to a pulley, allowing him to change all the stations at once. He is influenced by sources as diverse as Leonardo da Vinci, jazz greats George Lewis and Anthony Braxton and, of course, the kinetic sculpture of Jean Tinguely. The artist has an affinity for the whimsical properties of the materials from the sophisticated mechanical refuse in Jet City from such industrial outlets like Boeing Surplus.
In "Picnics, Rhythms and Vacations," he manipulates the sonic space of the gallery to take the observer on a quick journey through sound. Using slide projectors shelved in scaffolding on vertical columns and filled with hundreds of found 35mm slides collected from flea markets around the world, Trimpin creates a percussive sound sculpture, accompanied by images thrown on the gallery's walls, floor and ceiling.
As you sit in the gallery, sounds emitting from recycled cathode ray tubes travel around you in a swirl of clicks and thumps that have formal tonal properties. The sketch of the exhibition plan shows the artist places each item in the installation with great care and precision. Even the noise of the fans from the slide projectors is folded into the overall composition. This premier of an original new work by Trimpin at SAAM is only up until October 15, so plan to view it soon.
The piece at the Frye is like a giant percussive hurdy-gurdy. Comprising 120 Dutch wooden clogs connected to a computer by concealed wires and suspended from the ceiling, "Klompen" is one of Trimpin's most infamous sound installations. Originally debuting in 1986 in the stairwell of a bell tower at a church, it is a delightful romp through the artist's attention to sight, sound and movement.
In this sculpture, a percussive rhythm resonate s throughout the gallery as the clogs perform a mechanistic ballet triggered by devices placed in their toes. A different rhythmic pattern is generated each time the sculpture is activated. For a quarter, you can activate the sculpture by placing the coin in the slot box. (All proceeds go to a First Hill charity that helps families under economic and social stress.) The clogs hang mute on their tethers suspended from the skeletal structure. The vibrant toll painting executed on the shoes proudly proclaims HOLLAND with tulips and other Dutch folk symbols. The cacophony of sound dances around in a merry mode.
The Frye's installation of "Klompen" includes an educational display of the sculpture's intricate components. Also on view are several of Trimpin's scores for sculptures and performances, which employ the artist's unique notation system.
Both pieces allow a unique view into Trimpin's magical world. The sheer delight that he has with the interplay between form and tonal composition gives new meaning to the idea of a total work of art. Aesthetics and acoustics are married into an experience unlike any other.
Crafted, composed, created and presented with great élan, these two works remind us of how lucky we are to have Trimpin poking in the rubbish bins of the new economy. You owe it to yourself to come and experience the sculpture.
The Seattle Asian Art Museum is located in Volunteer Park. Museum hours are: Tuesday- Sunday: 10 a.m. to 5 p.m, and Thursday: 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. The exhibition runs through Oct. 15.
The Frye Art Museum is located at 704 Terry Avenue on First Hill. Museum hours are: Tuesday- Saturday: 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., Sunday: Noon to 5 p.m., and Thursday: 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. The exhibition runs through January 21, 2007.
Capitol Hill resident Steven Vroom writes about visual arts in the last issue of each month. His Web site, www.vroomjournal.com, is a web journal about Seattle arts and culture. He can be reached at editor@capitolhilltimes.com.
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