Tim Hawkinson

Homework #10 (6) Research 1 or (if you signed up for 3 credit points) 2 artists who have used sound in their work. Observe how they used it; how obvious that component is; and how creative they were in their approach. Blog about it.

Überorgan

Although Tim Hawkinson is typically a sculptural artist, he created an installation called the Uberorgan. When I was younger during a fieldtrip to MassMOCA I had the opportunity to experience this installation, and this experience has remained vivid in my mind for at least a decade. I did not remember the artist's name, or the name of the instrument/installation, I simply remembered the experience I had with the piece, which I would assume is what most artists aspire to leave resonating in the viewers.

What is the Uberorgan?

It is a giant self playing instrument similar to an organ or bagpipe that was originally commissioned to fill a 15,000 square foot gallery, although it ended up filling up six galleries. It was constructed out of primarily plastic, metal tubing and netting. When looking at it, it seems like it is an extremely large abstract, industrial sculpture. It is not until you hear the sounds it makes or see the actual self playing organ part with long sheets of notes feeding through it that the viewer would recognize that it is in fact an instrument.

The video does not do it justice, because it is so difficult to comprehend the size and magnitude of the piece on screen.




Although the Uberorgan self plays various songs, by reading notes on a specially designed spool of sheet music, it can also be played if put in a different setting. The Ubergorgan is a combination of a sculptural, audio and installation piece. When asked about the sound of the Uberorgan in an interview for Art21, Hawkinson said:

"For Überorgan, I felt that I was going to have a real strong physical presence, but I felt like it needed to also have this kind of audible component. They look like these, kind of, whales suspended in the air and hovering about you. And the sound is really biomorphic and sounds kind of like a bleating or a whaling sound. But it’s all based on a score that I put together, using lots of old church hymns. I have to refresh my memory—what did I use?—“Sailor’s Hornpipe” and “Swan Lake.” And there was an improvisational piece that I invited a guest composer in for—a friend that just kind of messed around with the keyboard. So, there was this score. And then it’s constrained to just a scale of twelve tones. You’re used to hearing a melody played in something that reaches up into other octaves. But in this case, anything that would go up into the next octave has to drop back down, and it further abstracts the original score and removes it further from certain recognizable melodies. So, then there were also a series of switches that filtered or reinterpreted the initial score."