Max Eastley (born 1 December 1944, Torquay, Devon, England) is a British visual and sound artist. He is part of the Cape Farewell Climate Change project. He studied painting and graphic art at Newton Abbot Art School and then went on to gain a BA in Fine Art (1969–1972) at Middlesex University (formerly Hornsey School of Art). He is a sculptor (kinetic), musician and composer. His primary instrument is a unique electro-acoustic monochord, developed from an aeolian sculpture. 'The Arc' consists of a single string stretched lengthwise across a long piece of wood (around ten feet) which can be played with a bow, fingers or short glass rods.[1] The end of the instrument has a microphone attached so the basic sound can be amplified, recorded and run through sound effect programs.

Eastley has collaborated with many different artists and musicians on performances, installations and recordings including: David Toop,[2] Brian Eno, Paul Burwell, Victor Gama, Hugh Davies, Steve Beresford, Peter Greenaway, Dave Hunt, David Buckland, Evan Parker,[3] Peter Cusack, Spaceheads.[4] From 2001–2002, Eastley was a visiting fellow at John Moores University Liverpool and is currently (2010 onwards) an AHRC research fellow at Oxford Brookes University researching Aeolian phenomena. On 17 May 1989, Eastley was awarded a prize in the 'Learning Spaces Category' of the working in the City European Communities Architectural Ideas Competition (University College Dublin).

Selected discography

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Eastley has worked across a variety of genres including: improvised and experimental music; folk music; popular song; jazz; compositions using environmental recordings as well as musical resources. He has also composed music for film and dance. Eastley was part of the group 'The 49 Americans', who played together for a period during the 1980s and produced several albums together.[5]

Selected performances

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Eastley has performed as a solo musician and in many combinations with other artists. He has worked on stage with his installations and with film and has created and performed in musical/theatrical performances such as: 'Whirled Music'.

Selected installations and exhibitions

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Eastley has done a wide variety of installations worldwide, many of which use moving parts (motors, pulleys etc.) to create ambient soundscapes while engaging the observer visually. Many recordings of the below installations appear on the CD: 'Max Eastley Installation Recordings 1973–2008' [28]

  • Serpentine Gallery, 1976
  • Ikon Gallery, Birmingham 1979
  • Arnolfini gallery, Bristol 1980
  • Apollo House, Eindhoven, Holland 1980
  • A Noise in Your Eye (touring exhibition), Arnolfini gallery, the Barbican 1986
  • Artec Biennale, Ngoya, Japan 1993
  • Ireland and Europe Sculpture Event, Iveagh Gardens, Dublin 1997
  • Sculpture in Woodland, County Wicklow, Ireland 1999[42]
  • The Big Chill Festival, 2000
  • ICC Centre, Japan 2000
  • Festival de Arte Sonoro, Mexico 2002
  • Interior Landscape,[43] Reading Hindu Temple and Community Association 2003
  • European Capital of Culture, Cork, Ireland[44]
  • Kinetic Drawings, Metropole Gallery, Folkestone UK, 2008

Installations for Cape Farewell

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Eastley collaborated with sound engineer Dave Hunt to develop an innovative computer-controlled amplification system for these installations. Eastley has been part of the Cape Farewell project since 2005 and has been on three trips to Spitsbergen with the organisation. Sound clip of bearded seals

The following installations were part of a touring exhibition:

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Eastley has appeared in several publications since the 1970s, including:

Film, radio and dance

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Film

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Radio

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Dance

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Eastley composed music for the Siobhan Davies Production: 'Plants and Ghosts' in 2002.[58]

References

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  1. ^ "Max Eastley: Images of Sound". Eyelessingaza.com. Retrieved 26 March 2020.
  2. ^ a b Buttimer, Colin. "BBC - Music - Review of Max Eastley and David Toop - Doll Creature". Bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 26 March 2020.
  3. ^ a b "a life saved by a spider and two doves". Anothertimbre.com. Retrieved 26 March 2020.
  4. ^ a b "'The Time of the Ancient Astronaut', collaboration between Max Eastley and The Spaceheads". Archived from the original on 24 July 2011.
  5. ^ "The 49 Americans". Discogs.com. Retrieved 26 March 2020.
  6. ^ "'New and Rediscovered Musical Instruments' on modisti.com". Archived from the original on 14 July 2011. Retrieved 6 March 2011.
  7. ^ "Obscure (UK) - CDS and Vinyl at Discogs". Discogs. Archived from the original on 2 January 2011. Retrieved 6 March 2011.
  8. ^ "Incus33". Efi.group.shef.ac.uk. Retrieved 26 March 2020.
  9. ^ "Incus Records for improvised, experimental, avant-garde music". Incusrecords.force9.co.uk. Retrieved 26 March 2020.
  10. ^ "Max Eastley / Steve Beresford / Paul Burwell / David Toop - Whirled Music". Discogs.com. Retrieved 26 March 2020.
  11. ^ "Quartz Publications". Discogs.com. Retrieved 26 March 2020.
  12. ^ "Kahondo Style - My Heart's In Motion". Discogs.com. Retrieved 26 March 2020.
  13. ^ "Nato". Discogs.com. Retrieved 26 March 2020.
  14. ^ "Various - At Close Quarters". Discogs.com. Retrieved 26 March 2020.
  15. ^ "These Records". Discogs.com. Retrieved 26 March 2020.
  16. ^ "David Toop And Max Eastley - Buried Dreams". Discogs.com. Retrieved 26 March 2020.
  17. ^ "Beyond". Discogs.com. Retrieved 26 March 2020.
  18. ^ "Various - Ambient 4: Isolationism". Discogs.com. Retrieved 26 March 2020.
  19. ^ "Music". Virgin.com. Retrieved 26 March 2020.
  20. ^ "Peter Cusack Max Eastley (PD 14)". Stalk.net. Retrieved 26 March 2020.
  21. ^ "Second Layer Records". Secondlayer.co.uk. Archived from the original on 5 May 2013. Retrieved 26 March 2020.
  22. ^ "absurd". Discogs.com. Retrieved 26 March 2020.
  23. ^ "Martyn Bates & Max Eastley – Songs of Transformation". Eyelessingaza.com. Retrieved 26 March 2020.
  24. ^ "Max Eastley's ARCTIC". Mediateletipos.net. Retrieved 26 March 2020.
  25. ^ a b c d e "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 21 February 2020. Retrieved 26 March 2020.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  26. ^ "'A Very Long Way from Anywhere Else' with Spaceheads on the Spaceheads website". Archived from the original on 24 July 2011.
  27. ^ "Another Timbre". Anothertimbre.com. Retrieved 26 March 2020.
  28. ^ a b "Max Eastley - Installation recordings (PD 26)". Stalk.net. Retrieved 26 March 2020.
  29. ^ "The Mimi Festival, Marseille gig. Recorded and used on the album: 'A Very Long Way from Anywhere Else'". Archived from the original on 24 July 2011.
  30. ^ "Max Eastley with Thomas Koner, Asmus Tietchens and Victor Gama at Atlantic Waves 2006". Archived from the original on 11 July 2011. Retrieved 6 March 2011.
  31. ^ Atlantic waves 2006 on Gulbenkian.org.uk Archived 24 December 2012 at archive.today
  32. ^ "Arctic - Cape Farewell - the cultural response to climate change". Archived from the original on 19 November 2008. Retrieved 6 March 2011.
  33. ^ "Plays Well With Others". Londonist.com. 20 June 2007. Retrieved 26 March 2020.
  34. ^ Video footage of Max Eastley performing with various artists at The Vortex, London on YouTube
  35. ^ "Foyles Bookshop - Search". Archived from the original on 2 April 2015. Retrieved 13 March 2015.
  36. ^ "Tate Britain|Late at Tate Britain". 19 January 2011. Archived from the original on 19 January 2011. Retrieved 26 March 2020.
  37. ^ "Tate Britain|Late at Tate Britain|Late at Tate Britain". 12 May 2009. Archived from the original on 12 May 2009. Retrieved 26 March 2020.
  38. ^ "Performance program for Nobel Laureate Symposium on Cape Farewell website". Archived from the original on 8 July 2011.
  39. ^ "IndieLondon: Pestival - South Bank Centre - Your London Reviews". Indielondon.co.uk. Retrieved 26 March 2020.
  40. ^ "Program for Rome Film Festival on the Cape Farewell website". Archived from the original on 8 July 2011.
  41. ^ "Archived copy". NME. Archived from the original on 28 June 2011. Retrieved 6 March 2011.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  42. ^ "Things to see and do Ireland". 10 July 2011. Archived from the original on 10 July 2011. Retrieved 26 March 2020.
  43. ^ Eastley's installation at a Hindu Temple in Reading 2003 Archived 21 May 2010 at the Wayback Machine
  44. ^ [1] [dead link]
  45. ^ "Hamburg 2007 - Cape Farewell - the cultural response to climate change". Archived from the original on 19 November 2008. Retrieved 6 March 2011.
  46. ^ [2] [dead link]
  47. ^ "Max Eastley appearing with 'Whirled Music' in EMI Quarterly Journal Vol.V #2". Archived from the original on 2 December 2014.
  48. ^ "ICC | Catalog". Ntticc.or.jp. Retrieved 26 March 2020.
  49. ^ Toop, David (1 December 2001). "Introduction: Not Necessarily "English Music"". Leonardo Music Journal. 11: 86–87. doi:10.1162/09611210152780737. S2CID 57559893.
  50. ^ ""Wasser für die Elefanten" – Rezension". Avabooks.ch. Retrieved 26 March 2020.
  51. ^ "Kiefer, Peter (Hg.), Klangräume der Kunst positionen Online-Shop – das Portal für neue Musik im Internet positionen Online-Shop – das Portal für neue Musik im Internet". Archived from the original on 24 July 2011. Retrieved 6 March 2011.
  52. ^ Walmsley, Rob Young,Marc Masters,Philip Clark,Edwin Pouncey,Dan Warburton,Derek. "The Wire 265". Thewire.co.uk. Retrieved 26 March 2020.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  53. ^ Hickey, Rob Young,Louise Gray,David Stubbs,Philip Sherburne,Clive Bell,Derek Walmsley,Andy Hamilton,Jon Dale,David. "The Wire 291". Thewire.co.uk. Retrieved 26 March 2020.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  54. ^ "Description of the short film 'Water Wrackets'". Archived from the original on 14 May 2011.
  55. ^ "Max Eastley videos - The Wire". Thewire.co.uk. Retrieved 26 March 2020.
  56. ^ Footage of the film 'Kinetic Drawings' by Helen Petts on YouTube
  57. ^ "Matt's Gallery - TAPS: Improvisations with Paul Burwell". Mattsgallery.org. Retrieved 26 March 2020.
  58. ^ "Review of Siobhan Davies' 'Plants and Ghosts' performance by Ann Williams on Ballet Magazine". Archived from the original on 5 October 2012.

Reviews

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  1. Max Eastley Max Eastley's Discogs profile
  2. The Wire: Adventures in Modern Music: Article Gallery of Max Eastley's work on The Wire magazine website