Join us for a virtual screening of the documentary film Trimpin: The Sound Of Invention, followed by a Q&A with the artist Trimpin, whose work is currently featured at BIMA in the exhibition Trimpin: Hear & Now.

Trimpin: The Sound Of Invention is an amusing exploration of the sonic world of an eccentric creative genius. Filmed over two years, this documentary feature follows the artist/inventor’s collaborative processes through multiple projects. This film will delight anyone interested in the mysteries, pitfalls, and sheer joy of creative experiment.

This event will take place on Zoom.

About Trimpin

Trimpin is a sound sculptor, composer, engineer, and inventor. A specialist in interfacing computers with traditional instruments, he has developed ways of playing instruments ranging from giant marimbas to stacks of electric guitars via computer. His work integrates sculpture sound, and live performance. Born in Germany near the Black Forest, Trimpin spent several years living and studying in Berlin, working as a set designer and collaborating with artists from both Germany and the United States. He relocated to the United States in 1979. His work has been performed and exhibited at shows, performances, new music festivals, museums, and galleries around the world including Seattle Art Museum, International Jazz Festival in Vancouver, Missoula Museum of Art in Montana, Tacoma Art Museum, Washington State University Museum of Art, Ojai Music Festival, and Other Minds Festival. From 2005 through 2007, museums and galleries throughout the Pacific Northwest mounted an extensive retrospective of Trimpin’s work. His sound sculptures, installations, and set designs have been developed in collaboration with artists such as Merce Cunningham, Samuel Beckett, Conlon Nancarrow, and the Kronos Quartet. Subsequent to receiving his 1994 Grants to Artists award, Trimpin received a MacArthur “Genius” Award and a John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Fellowship for his investigations of acoustic music in spatial relationship, both in 1997. He holds an Honorary Doctorate in Musical Arts from California Institute of the Arts, which he was awarded in 2010. Trimpin is the subject of the 2009 documentary film, Trimpin: The Sound of Invention, which premiered at the South by Southwest Film Festival and a 2011 book, Trimpin: Contraptions for Art and Sound, edited by Anne Focke.