re-positioned to play back into the void oftheir own cabinets - the inner space
This sits on a black gramophone case like a monolithic memorial plinth
Inner Space Memorial
[for JG Ballard]
Sound & Sculpture series in memory of the novelist JG Ballard 1930 - 2009
He lived a mile from my studio in the far west fringes of Greater London
His life was astonishing. His central treatise was 'inner space' [as opposed to outer space]
Sound was a vital part of his narrative landscape
The novel Concrete Island inspired my early project in 1996 The Memory Museum
He died in April 2009 while I was reading his autobiography. I was preparing to go and say hello.
He was a full time father and reading his daughter's Eulogy is inspirational
So I've been moved to produce a multiple of works in memory of his legacy
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"Inner Space Memorial [for JG Ballard]"
Loudspeakers, Gramophone Case, Car Stereo Amplifier, CD Player
50 x 42 x 29cm [2009]
A sound sculpture where a pair of white speakers have their cones
re-positioned to play back into the void oftheir own cabinets - the inner space
This sits on a black gramophone case like a monolithic memorial plinth
[little MP4 video file above - if it's not working in Windows change your browser prefs to accept MP4]
[NB: the actual sculpture is stationary - not a rotating piece!]
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Installation at The Bluecoat Gallery
winter 2009/2010
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"Inner Space [for JG Ballard]"
This is the original composition used throughout the series.
A 20 minute hovering shifting uplifting full frequency drone piece
A full blast sound space that envelopes you
an extract is playing for you now - you can leave the sample playing all day long
“Inner Space Memorial in Wonderland” LP [Dekorder 078]
A1 Inner Space Memorial [for J.G.Ballard] 20:57 .....
Over the years, I have produced a number of works in praise of the ideas of J.G Ballard. He lived just over the river from my home.
While reading his autobiography in 2009, I was wandering how to go and say hello, but found out I was too late.
I produced a monument in honour of him called the 'Inner Space Memorial', part of my Retrospective at the Bluecoat in Liverpool.
A pair of speaker cones were turned around to play back into the void of their cabinets. An epitaph for a great mind.
B1 Wonderland 20:00
Wonderland is the finale of my exhibition soundtrack to "Asleep at the wheel...". A work that questions where our culture is heading further down the highway ahead.
A single majestic daydream that drives you forwards as reality undertakes you. Location recordings were made in the middle of the night on a footbridge over the M3,
at the end of Ballard's street. Ideal music for when you need to stay awake on the road! I was fascinated to work out that while he was writing Crash and Concrete Island,
the six lane motorway was being built right past the front of his home.
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OUT NOW
"Fifty Inner Spaces [for JG Ballard]"
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50 hand lathed 5" records
During cutting the vinyl, the music is played on a continous loop,
and each record is cut live for 2 minutes wherever it may be
Each of the 50 records will sound different
A split release with Stephan Mathieu on Cronica Records, Portugal, 2009
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" Ballardian Soundbites "
Ballard was not a music lover but references to sound in his work are frequently vital
below are a sereis of curated thoughts about sound in the world of Ballard
Kevin Wienke reveals his personal Top 20 references to sound
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Below is the Channel 4 TV news article on Ballard's life and legacy
+ here is a 30min TV interview from 1989 [on BBC in UK]
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Sydney Cooper Gallery, Canterbury, May 2010
exhibited in the group show Inner Space Memorials
see my piece for John Dankworth in the same exhibition
+
his house went up for sale in July 2011
the old Ford Granada car gone from the drive
