Kevin Drumm fills the wide open spaces of Preston Bradley Hall with Narrow Territory, his new multiple speaker project for Lampo and the Chicago Architecture Biennial.
Drumm, whose work draws upon musique concrète, improvisation and noise, makes electronic music with cheap testing equipment and computers. Here, he creates a densely packed sound, moving hiss and tone around the room with an array of 17 speakers under the Tiffany dome.
Kevin Drumm (b.1970, South Holland, Ill.) emerged from Chicago’s improvised music scene in the 1990s as a tabletop guitar player. In his early works, he made spare and detailed recordings, laying the instrument on its side and playing it with different objects, like paperclips, magnets and violin bows. Since 1991 his approach has expanded to include electroacoustic compositions and live electronic music made with laptop computers and analog modular synthesizers.
Drumm has collaborated with many artists, including Japanese guitarist Taku Sugimoto, multi-instrumentalist and producer Jim O’Rourke, tape-looper Jason Lescalleet, and European improvisers such as Swedish saxophonist Mats Gustafsson and German trumpeter Axel Dörner. In 2001 he worked with the artist group Simparch, composing a piece for their installation Spec, shown at Documenta XI in Kassel, Germany and at the Renaissance Society in Chicago. His music for Deborah Stratman's film In Order Not to Be Here was also part of a different Simparch installation at the 2004 Whitney Biennial.
Kevin Drumm: Narrow Territory takes the place of Florian Hecker: Reformulations. Hecker is unable to travel to Chicago for personal reasons.
Come early to explore the Chicago Architecture Biennial exhibitions. Galleries will be open 6-9pm. Join us in the Chicago Cultural Center's Randolph Square for free beer and wine from 6-8pm.
Beer generously donated by Lagunitas Brewing Company. First come, first served; limited quantity available.
This program is presented in partnership with Lampo, a nonprofit presenter of experimental music and intermedia events.
