WESTERN FRONT – Travelon Gamelon

Description:

Western Front presented a concert by Richard Lerman, featuring solo works and an ensemble performance.

The evening opened with Travelon Gamelon, an ensemble piece for amplified bicycles performed with local musicians Ann Hepper, Ken Morrison, Kenneth Newby, Alex Varty, and Leon Wolf.

Lerman then performed two solo works. In Changing States, he used a small blowtorch to heat sheets of metal and copper wires connected to homemade transducers and contact microphones. The sounds produced as the materials popped, bent, and expanded under heat were processed through an original electronic system.

To close, Lerman performed Music for Plinky and Straw, a work that uses amplified plastic bendy straws to create a tape loop. After generating a multilayered sound base, Lerman cut the straw with scissors, creating a delightful plucking noise that resembled an organ pipe.

Audio and video documentation is available upon request.

In black and white, three bicycles rest upside down in a line, casting long shadows in front of them. Behind, a person stands over the top of one holding the tire, as if working on the bike, three others sit behind.

In black and white, in the Grand Luxe Hall, sit three upside-down bicycles, with four seated people, appearing to work on the bikes. An audience in shadow sits in front watching.

Captions:

Richard Lerman, Kenneth Newby, Ann Hepper, Alex Varty, Ken Morrison, and Leon Wolf performing Travelon Gamelon at Western Front, photo documentation, Feb 22, 1987.
Richard Lerman, Kenneth Newby, Ann Hepper, Alex Varty, Ken Morrison, and Leon Wolf performing Travelon Gamelon at Western Front, photo documentation, Feb 22, 1987.

Western Front is a non-profit artist-run centre in Vancouver.

We acknowledge the xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), Skwxwú7mesh (Squamish), and səl̓ílwətaʔɬ (Tsleil-Waututh) Nations as traditional owners of the land upon which Western Front stands.