James Hullick: THE ARBOUR and THE ORRERY

James Hullick’s auditory creation practice is wide ranging. Since starting out as a solo pianist, vocalist and composer his sonic explorations have branched out into electronic sound making, sound sculpture, installation art and music-making machinery. Hullick’s work is characterised by a diverse range of aesthetic approaches, ranging from neo-Gothicism to more austere classically principled and process-based works. His sonic works have been performed, exhibited and presented in Asia, North America and Europe for a variety of ensembles and installation formats.

For this exhibition, the Museum commissioned Hullick to make new work from his sound installation practice in response to the works of Edwin Tanner. Hullick’s inventive use of auditory technologies seeks to push the boundaries of the sonic arts and, like Tanner, his projects often challenge conventional perspectives. THE ARBOUR OF DOORS is a speaker cave made of recycled audiovisual materials and doorways which is sonically activated by the sound of whirring miniaturised motors and voices reciting some of Tanner’s poetry. THE ORRERY OF HUMAN DESIRES is a mechanical model of rotating speakers which emits a multi-track recording of a score for two voices (composed by Hullick and performed by himself and Justine Anderson) which was inspired by two of Tanner’s paintings. These two new works have been conceived of as ‘instruments’ for expanding audiovisual practice.