As a visual artist and a musician, I've always been interested in ways of combining paintings with sound. Tape recorders have been a lifelong obsession so it was natural for me to want to incorporate them in artworks. Here are a few examples.

 

OCEAN

When you turn the key and open the door, the tape on the inside plays the sound of waves - loud - from a speaker on the other side of the room. Inside the central Vedic Anahata or heart chakra (later appropriated as the star of David - much later), it says 'you are here'.

 

THE BIG DIPPER

When you activate the switch, the tape loop runs across the surface of the painting, making the stars twirl and playing the sound of children in a playground. So it could be a constellation or a fairground ride.

 

BIG DIPPER 2

This version is ten feet high and changes the dipper shape into a yin and yang symbol.

 

TRUNK

This one has headphones attached and when you switch it on, you'll hear somebody whispering some mystical words - in one ear only.

 

SONS OF THE DESERT

This one has the working pieces of a cassette player submerged in sand. Press the switch and the tape loop plays a Lawrence of Arabia type tune I wrote and recorded.

 

THE GREATEST SHOW ON EARTH

This also has the guts of a tape player amongst toys and model scenery. Again, press the switch and the tape loop plays a funhouse/circus type of tune of my own creation. It was battery operated.

Sound Paintings

A selection of my paintings and constructions which include tape loops.

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