POEMOPHONE: A SERIES OF SOUND SCULPTURES

7” x 13” x 12” average scale in series

typewriters, various wood species, hand-forged steel

During a Senior Woodworking Residency at OCAC, I completed a series of experimental musical instruments based on the lamellophone, each having a unique tuning system. By repurposing vintage typewriters, I have created Poemophone, a series of sound sculptures that explore the poetics of making meaning, playing with compositional strategies at the intersection of linguistics, literature, experimental music, & sculpture.

I have formulated each Poemophone´s tuning system for specific collaborators-musicians, writers, visual artists-so that each sculpture has an individual voice. Each voice is derived from `Outlaw´ tuning systems, meaning that intervals between tones are irregular. Applied to a typewriter keyboard, each letter of the alphabet has a musical tone. Any combination of letters played on the instrument generates an audible musical phrase rather than written transcription. Text played on a Poemophone results in an act of translation, an interpretation. Because each instrument in the series has its own unique tuning system a text composed on one will sound differently when played on another.