WAREHOUSE at the Geffen Contemporary at MOCA
152 North Central Avenue
Los Angeles, CA 90012
Tickets: $12 ($10 for MOCA Members)
Fulcrum Arts is pleased to present Soundless, composed by Ellen Fullman and her longtime collaborator, cellist, and guitarist Theresa Wong. The work explores string resonance and its capacity to create a space of connection, empathy, and multiplicity. The spectrally undulating drones of the Long String Instrument combine with rhythms created by Fullman’s unique ‘box bow’ and ‘shoveler’ tools as well as Wong’s performance on cello and electric guitar, which is specialized through four-channel amplification. Together, Fullman and Wong create a work that responds to and is shaped by the industrial architecture of WAREHOUSE.
Soundless was commissioned by room40 following the label’s critically acclaimed release of their album, Harbors.
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Since 1980, Ellen Fullman has focused on The Long String Instrument, a large-scale installation of tuned strings creating droning organ-like overtones that have resonated architectural spaces in festivals across the world including Tectonics, Athens, The Sydney Festival, and the London Contemporary Music Festival. Through her research in just intonation tuning theory, string harmonics, and musical instrument design, Fullman has developed a unique compositional and performative approach that expands harmonic motion through a focus on upper partial tones. Awards include the Guggenheim Fellowship in Music Composition (2020) and the Foundation for Contemporary Arts Award for Music/Sound (2015). Notable recordings include Harbors (Room40, 2020) a collaboration with Theresa Wong, and The Long String Instrument (2015).
Theresa Wong is a composer, cellist, vocalist, and intermedia artist active at the intersection of composition, improvisation, and the synergy of multiple disciplines. Her works include Fluency of Trees for solo cello and voice which premiered at the Other Minds Festival in 2022, She Dances Naked Under Palm Trees, commissioned by pianist Sarah Cahill for The Future Is Female project, and Harbors, co-composed with Long String Instrument inventor Ellen Fullman and chosen as one of The Wire’s top 50 releases of 2020. Wong is a 2024 Guggenheim Fellow in Music Composition and is currently based in the San Francisco Bay Area.
Ellen Fullman and Theresa Wong: Soundless is presented as part of Energy Fields: Vibrations of the Pacific as well as Fulcrum Festival 2024: Waves Upon Waves. Energy Fields: Vibrations of the Pacific is co-presented by Fulcrum Arts and Chapman University. The Fulcrum Festival is made possible with the support of the National Endowment for the Arts.
Energy Fields is among more than 70 exhibitions and programs presented as part of PST ART. Returning in September 2024 with its latest edition, PST ART: Art & Science Collide, this landmark regional event explores the intersections of art and science, both past and present. PST ART is presented by Getty. For more information about PST ART: Art & Science Collide, visit pst.art.
Ellen Fullman and Theresa Wong, Soundless is presented at MOCA as part of Wonmi’s WAREHOUSE Programs founded by Wonmi & Kihong Kwon and Family.
Wonmi’s WAREHOUSE Programs is organized by Alex Sloane, Associate Curator, and is produced by Amelia Charter, Producer of Performance and Programs with Michele Huizar, Programming Assistant, The Museum of Contemporary Art Los Angeles.
