Well, this is kinda different. Last month, the Orphic Gallery opened “Instrumental Desire: Strings Attached,” an exhibition of the quirky instruments made by artist and musician Ken Butler. This Saturday, the gallery will host a performance by Butler and an ensemble of musicians from New York’s downtown experimental scene using instruments from the exhibit and others of their own creation.
Butler’s hybrid musical instruments/sculptures are created primarily from “urban detritus” and are sonically shaped with cutting-edge sound-processing gear. His works have been featured in numerous exhibitions and performances throughout the US, Canada, and Europe, and on PBS, CNN, MTV, and NBC’s “The Tonight Show,” on which he played live.
Watch Butler as he demonstrates a few of his creations here:
Ken Butler’s All-Star Ensemble will perform at the Orphic Gallery in Roxbury, New York, on August 9 at 7pm. For more information, call (607) 326-6045 or visit www.orphicgallery.com.
This article appears in August 2014.
