Ellen Fullman In MN On McKnight Visiting Composer Fellowship — Patterns Of Long String Instrument, BlackBerry Shots, St. Paul, Minnesota, November 2010, photo © 2010 by QuoinMonkey. All rights reserved.
November opens Season 22 of the Strange Attractors series at Fine Arts Studio 677. Strange Attractors is a Festival of eXperimental InterMedia Arts located on the campus of Metro State in St. Paul, Minnesota. The program was created and is run by musician/composer David Means, Associate Professor and Coordinator of the Program in Experimental Music and Intermedia Arts. The venue has a long history of presenting innovative, cutting edge musicians and artists. Last night, composer Ellen Fullman deconstructed the last 30 years of her work and presented history and video on the development of the Long String Instrument.
In 1981, Ellen created an installation of dozens of wires, 50+ feet in length, tuned in Just Intonation and bowed with rosin-coated fingers. It takes 70 feet of space and 10 hours to set up the Long String Instrument for performance and Ellen sometimes brings in engineers to help her anchor the hardware. When the performance begins, only the strings are lit up as she slow walks the stage, making it look as though she is floating on air. The results are a meditative blend of music and sound art, the experience compared to standing inside a giant grand piano. Or, as Biba Kopf wrote in The Wire, “like you are inside some cyclopean subterranean grotto…jeweled walls glistening with an alien lustre.”
In her Artist Statement, Ellen says:
My music explores natural tunings based on the physics of vibrating strings. Through observation, I have determined that there is an optimal bowing speed in which strings speak most clearly in the longitudinal mode, presumably based on a relationship to the speed of the wave moving through the material, which in turn regulates the pace of the walking performer. In the late 1980s I conceived of a graphic notation system that still functions as the basis for scoring my work, where timing and coordination of parts are determined by distance walked.
It is always a treat to be privy to the history and process of a writer or artist. And after the presentation, we discussed Ellen’s brush with Elvis in Memphis (her hometown) at age 1 and the rigors of traveling and working on the road. Ellen also spent time in the Twin Cities after graduating from the Kansas City Art Institute. Her 1980 piece Streetwalker, took us back to the red-light district of Hennepin Avenue in Minneapolis, where she walked down the street in platform shoes and a sheet metal skirt rigged to spring musical tones with each step. Last night’s presentation ended with Ellen’s current work and the spiritual and meditative aspects in the evolution of the Long String Instrument.
Ellen Fullman has collaborated with composer Pauline Oliveros, choreographer Deborah Hay, and has performed in venues in Europe, Japan, and the Americas. She is in Minnesota on a McKnight Visiting Composer Fellowship and currently resides at Bethany Lutheran College in Mankato. Ellen has three more performances coming up at the college on November 15th, 16th, and 17th. If she’s ever in your area of the planet, check out her performance art. It is an inspiration.
Deep Listening Band and the Long String Instrument performance of Suspended Music – TexasTravelTexture by Ellen Fullman with Nigel Jacobs and Elise Gould, and Deep Listening Band: Pauline Oliveros, Stuart Dempster, and David Gamper, posted on YouTube by Ellen Fullman.
Great background of Ellen’s work! Am so glad you were able to come to the show with me. It’s amazing the world that opened up for us. On Thursday, we just knew her name. Now, after meeting her, and the depth of this post, I feel like I know a great deal about this amazing woman.
It is always great to hear about an artist’s process, no matter what medium they use. Plus, talking to her afterwards, we find out that music is not her only medium. Sometimes we just have to pick our favorite one, or one where we have a niche. Ellen has definitley found that! Hope to make it to Mankato to see her play live on the 15th. Will update here if I get that opportunity.
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skyWire, thanks for tipping me off to this artist at Strange Attractors for opening week. It’s true, I only knew Ellen’s name before the performance. Afterward, I felt like I had an opening into a whole other world in music and art. It’s the joy of going to hear writers and artists speak and talk about their work. It so inspired me, that I wanted to do this post on the event. And to get the word out about the Strange Attractors artists that David brings to Studio 677.
I sure wish I could make it to Mankato, but I’m going out of town. It would be worth the drive to hear Ellen perform in person. She said the basement acoustics where she has the Long String Instrument set up are perfect for the sound. I thought it was interesting, too, how she said that when people attend the performance, it changes the sound, absorbs the sound. So each performance is a different experience. And her recordings would be the purest form of the music. Hope you can video if you see the Mankato performance. Totally worth the drive. I’ll have to enjoy it vicariously.
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skywire, I just watched the video on this post again, and it reminded me that she talked about the special shoes she now uses in her performances. I don’t think she had them in this video, but she had them on Friday night. Do you remember the name of them? I wanted to make a note but couldn’t remember.
I was also reminded that she is teaching her current students about Just Intonation, something I knew nothing about until Friday night. When I watch her walk and play in the video, it’s hard imagine having to tune something as large as the Long String Instrument. And I remember her talking about studying in India and Japan where there are thousands of years of history behind the music she is learning. She’s carrying on the lineage, bringing it back, making it her own.
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I had to google it because I couldn’t remember the name of the shoes: they are Masai Barefoot Technology or MBT’s. Would like to try them as they might be good for the video work I do. Each footstep ripples up to the camera lens and I try to walk as steadily and evenly as possible. Ellen is doing the same as she walks along her Long Stringed Instrument. Her composition is tied to her gait.
It was interested to hear about her studies with different cultures and how she ties is to her spirituality. Hope to get some footage of that conversation so others can hear it too.
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Wow, what a nice treat for my Sunday morning listening. Jim could hear the tones of the strings when I played the video. Is that you?, he called from the living room.
I’m just amazed at the depth that this artist has gone into with her strings and music. I mean, to study it to that degree, what dedication! And the results are so gorgeous. The sound so deep. Thanks for sharing.
Your comments piqued my interest about her special shoes. I imagine since she’s moving so slowly as she plays the strings, she has to have something that won’t trip her up. Like rubber-soled shoes might cause her to trip and interrupt the smooth slow move across the strings. But that’s just what popped to mind when I read the comment. Can you elaborate on the shoes? Details like that fascinate me.
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ybonesy, that’s so great that Jim responded to the music off in the other room. I was thinking as I listened that each tone is hitting our chakras in different ways. To me, it’s a real body experience to listen to her music. I wish I was going to be here to hear her perform in Mankato. I hope Liz is able to go and capture some video.
I’m glad you brought up the depth to which Ellen has gone to study and create the Long String Instrument. It’s one of the first things I commented on to her when we walked up to talk to her after the performance. The kind of dedication it takes to stick with the work that long, to travel to other countries to learn more, to teach what she has learned to others. The choices we all are confronted with when it comes to doing our art or writing and maintaining some kind of balance with our personal lives.
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Oh, ybonesy, about the shoes, I don’t know a lot more than what SkyWire mentioned in her comment above. Ellen had on a pair of Masai Barefoot Technology (or MBT’s) that she had just purchased not too long ago. So she was talking about them as we walked down the street. From what I gather, they emulate the sensation of walking in sand in the Masai desert. It think they are supposed to keep the movement of walking from rippling up and affecting what you are doing with your torso and hands.
Liz mentioned that when she handholds her video camera, it’s hard for her not to transfer the vibration and movement of her walk up to her hands and move the camera. I think it might help with that as well. Someone mentioned that there are also a version of these from Skechers and Reebok that are a bit cheaper — Shape-ups and EasyTones, I think they were called.
Remember when Earth Shoes came out all those years ago? I think I had a pair. It took some getting used to to wear them. Changed the way you walked.
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Just discovered there is an Indie film about Ellen Fullman and the Long String Instrument she built. It’s directed by Peter Esmonde — 5 Variations On A Long String. Will have to check it out. Here are a few links:
Independent Film Festival Boston — 5 Variations On A Long String (LINK)
Woodstock Film Festival — 5 Variations On A Long String (LINK)
IMDb — 5 Variations On A Long String (LINK)
5 Variations On A Long String on Facebook (LINK)
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Absolutely fascinating and beautiful. Thanks for this post. You are generous to share your “up close and personal” experience.
Matissta and I saw Laurie Anderson perform a couple of weeks ago — she, too has created/invented her own type of violin that is hand held, of course. She performed, “Delusion” about the limits of motherhood. Intense and beautiful, like Ellen Fullman’s work.
I’m enriched. Thanks again.
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Flann, thank you. Laurie has always been way ahead of her time. That’s pretty cool that you saw her a few weeks ago. I have not heard much about her in a long time but used to listen to her on vinyl. I think Liz still has a few records of Laurie in the studio. I’m in awe of people who are technical experts in the field of music. I’ve never had much of an aptitude for it. I had an Intro to Music class when I first went to college and realized I had no idea how all the math connected to the music. When I was listening to Ellen speak about her work, I had a lot of insight into the relationship to math and music. It was eye-opening. Made me realize that you create a structure for the music, then let it flow free within that structure. Kind of like Writing Practice. For me, Ellen’s music resonates at that spiritual level. Opens the chakras. I really appreciate you stopping by. I hope you are well and thriving.
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Thanks for the post on Ellen. I watched several videos of her performing on the stringed instrument. I saw something similar at a loft space in The Bottoms which is a area of town where many artists live. The performers who names I can’t remember had strung wires across the room and they danced and played them at the same time. The wires were like set pieces except the performers played them. Fascinating. Would love to see her perform in person.
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Bob, that sounds pretty cool. I like the name The Bottoms. We were hoping Ellen might perform at the Walker. Would be great to see her there. Oh, I wanted to mention to Flann, Liz reminded me that during her presentation, Ellen said she had worked with one of Laurie Anderson’s technical engineers during the creation of her Long String Instrument. I had forgotten she mentioned that. When I was researching the videos and talking to Ellen, Liz, and David after the show, I realized that it seems like this genre has a tight-knit community of people that all know each other in some capacity. Community.
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