Wingform - An Installation of Music & Light

Installation:

Designed and produced by Jack Phelan

Fabrication by Hugh Roche Kelly

Additional fabrication by Robert Clarke

 

Musicians:

Crash Ensemble

Barry O’Halpin, Solo Guitar

Ryan McAdams, conductor:

 

Recording Edited, Mixed, Mastered and Produced by:

Adrian Hart

“Cell-like forms hatching, splitting, segmenting in snake-like forms.

The drones of insect wings and human machines.

Animal growls and metallic friction.

The development and slow decay of an organism.”

Video artist and filmmaker Jack Phelan has created an installation responding to the visual themes of Barry O’Halpin’s groundbreaking work WINGFORM - a four movement work for solo guitar and ensemble, commissioned by Crash Ensemble, premiered online at New Music Dublin 2021 and released on Crash Records as part of New Music Dublin 2022.

 

Using a simple set of shapes, materials and layout, the installation aims to evoke the essence of the ensemble. Empty chairs highlight the absence of the musicians, but offer the audience an opportunity to sit and experience the work in a multimedia environment. Wooden light-boxes, video panels and speakers are the 'instruments' of this beautifully crafted ensemble of objects - light & video visually underscoring Barry’s work as it plays on a loop from start to finish.

 

The video artwork for the LED panels is made specifically for Wingform. Inspired by the composer’s naturistic themes, the imagery on the panels evolves as the piece progresses.

 

Wingform by Barry O’Halpin (2017-2020)

‘Wingform’ is an hour-length work in four movements, with solo electric guitar passages as connective tissue. It served as the culmination of Barry O’Halpin’s period as Crash Ensemble’s composer-in-residence, alongside his first few years as Crash guitarist.

​

“Wingform teems intensely with a living energy, taking full advantage of Crash’s unique ability to cover a breadth of musical ground: winding melodies, mechanical rhythms, rapid lines and hypnotic drones. The work combines an experimental and highly personal approach to the electric guitar with a fascination toward the contrasts and uncanny commonalities between ‘wild’ sounds in nature and human-made music and machinery, juxtaposing these elements in vividly surreal ways.”