Daft Punk Is Playing at My House – LCD Soundsystem
Category Archives: Music
“Restored to Center from Struggle toward Triumph- In C by Terry Riley”
This morning because I felt the need to be restored to center, I found myself listening to Terry Riley’s “IN C”, and re reading from “Susan McClary “Rap, Minimalism and Structures of Time in Late Twentieth-Century Culture.” in Audio Culture, Daniel Warner, ed, Continuum International Publishing Group, 2004, pp 289 – 298.” (Yes, I guess I am a little geeky when it comes to my reading habits). What struck me, although I am using it out of context, is her phrase “subjective struggle toward triumph”.
Repetition and geometry have helped me “center” (thus avoiding struggle) over my whole lifetime: saying the Rosary, looking carefully at the elegant design of flowers, dancing, taking joy in understanding equations, and being attentive to the comfort I find in the structure of Minimalistic music. The exhaustion from my strong emotional response to the pain and brokenness in society as the sides “struggle toward triumph”, has directed me back to the nurture I find in the cyclic repetition and geometry of the music of Terry Riley.
8.5″x11″ Canson Museum Rag, archival inks
“Trinity”
30″x30″ Silk over linen hemp twine and metallic floss, cotton and metallic thread
Although this was created after an afternoon of listening to jazz, ambient and big orchestra classical music, this could be a “Trinity” of whatever you wish.
“All Things Go – a nod to Sufjan Stevens’ Chicago”
Silk on linen, cotton and metallic floss and thread 30″x36″
“All Things Go” with a nod to the song “Chicago” by Sufjan Stevens. I just finished this as part of my “homework” for my “DJ Culture Class” The other 8 students have to do DJ mixes, but as the only visual art/non music student I do 2-D art inspired by music.
“Don’t Stop Me Now, I’m Havin’ a Good Time- Thank you Freddie”
30’x30’
Silk and linen over silk, cotton cord , metallic and chenille floss and thread
One afternoon while cleaning my studio and listening to lots of Queen, this image fell out of my pen. This really describes how I feel pretty much most of the time.
“Don’t Stop Me Now”
“Tonight I’m gonna have myself a real good time
I feel alive and the world it’s turning inside out Yeah!
I’m floating around in ecstasy
So don’t stop me now don’t stop me
‘Cause I’m having a good time having a good time
By Queen
“Reprise of Music in Curved Entrances” Terry Riley
12″x12″ Silk on linen with hemp, cotton metallic thread and floss
This was created specifically to sell at the Museum Shop of the Montclair Art Museum to go with my piece on display in their New Directions in Fiber Art Show. And thankfully it sold within five minutes of the shop opening on the first night of the exhibition.
“The Colors of a 12 String Guitar”
34″x 48″
Silk and cotton on linen with hemp, cotton and metallic thread and floss
This was created after a marathon listen to some of my favorite 12 string guitar players, particularly Leo Kottke. I hope this image conveys the richly layered twangy/tingly funky sound colors I see/hear as a synesthete when I listen to a 12 String.
“The Mind of a 12 String Guitarist”
8 ½”x 11”
Silk and linen on silk with cotton and metallic thread and floss
After finishing the 12 string Guitar sewy, I knew I needed this as part of the presentation- kind of a modern Diptych.
“White Winter Hymnal” by Fleet Foxes
14″x18
Silk on linen with hemp and cotton thread and floss
The melody moves back and forth. Read left to right following the round-like repetition of the thin strings that zig-zag between black standards to “follow the path”.
Cross-modal perception in synaesthetes during Art and Music practices
International pianist and synesthete, Dr. Svetlana Rudenko, used my art, “And, But and Not”, as a basis and inspiration for her musical composition, and then as part of her research resulting in a paper she delivered last week at Trinity College Dublin Ireland.
The drawings she used for musical influence were mine. GH
“Music In Curved Entrances” on display at the Montclair Art Museum, Montclair, NJ through June 2019
![51794119_10217547732221014_670694091419287552_n[1].jpg](https://gerihahn.files.wordpress.com/2019/02/51794119_10217547732221014_670694091419287552_n1.jpg)
“Music in Curved Entrances” is inspired by the music of minimalist composer Terry Riley from the 1970’s films, “Les Yeux Fermés & Lifespan”. My work is hand-sewn and embroidered fabric art, made in silk and linen with elements of shiny metallic floss and thread. The tactility, structure, and sheen of the fabric and thread form an integral part of how I “see” and engage with Riley’s looping phrases that tumble over each other. The touch of rough and smooth textures, the brightness of silks, the matte finish of linens, and the sparkle of metallic threads all reflect my synesthesia while satisfying my other senses as I work.
My hope is that this work allows the viewer to share the energy and joy I experience as I listen to music.
Living Out Loud: The Art of Geri Hahn 