The Triforium Project

LA Times — November 2nd, 2018

A Three-Part Series of Polyphonoptic Parties

at Temple & Main in Downtown Los Angeles

FREE & ALL-AGES

10/19/18 | 6pm start | 10pm end

Multidimensional multi-instrumentalist Reggie Watts headlines, with the Bob Baker Marionette Theater performing selections from its most beloved shows, and a string quartet conducted by composer Jherek Bischoff. Onsite scent activations by the Institute for Art and Olfaction and DJ sets by dublab. Hosted by Tom "Explores LA" Carroll.

10/19/18 | 6pm start | 10pm end

Julianna Barwick headlines, after the premiere of a new movement and choral piece by Carolyn Pennypacker Riggs , and the LA Opera presenting tenor Sean Pannikar performing a selection from Philip Glass' Satyagraha. Plus a DJ set from YACHT and onsite scent activations by The Institute for Art and Olfaction. Hosted by Tom "Explores LA" Carroll.

11/02/18 | 6pm start | 10pm end

Songwriter Thao Nguyen (of Thao & The Get Down Stay Down) headlines, with Taikoproject and world champion whistler Molly Lewis , playing with accompaniment, plus Restless Nites DJs and onsite scent activations by the Institute for Art and Olfaction. Hosted by Tom "Explores LA" Carroll.

Bright New Works

To celebrate the illumination of the Triforium, the Triforium Project has commissioned new original works from contemporary musicians; each artist was given the prompt to create a “polyphonoptic” composition at the intersection of light and sound. The program, co-curated by dublab, will open each Triforium Fridays event.

$3.33 Ben Babbitt Ben Browning of Cut Copy Bobby Birdman Daedelus George Jensen John Tejada Mary Lattimore Scott Gilmore Secret Circuit

Co-curated by dublab with support from Perfect Circuit

Series Info

The series, curated by Claire L. Evans and Jona Bechtolt of 5 Every Day and YACHT, is hosted by Tom Carroll of Tom Explores Los Angeles and made possible with the assistance and support of LA City Councilmember Jose Huizar , the Los Angeles Department of Cultural Affairs, the Goldhirsh Foundation, The National Trust for Historic Preservation, and NOW Art LA.

Triforium History

The Triforium is a six-story, 60-ton public artwork in Downtown Los Angeles by artist Joseph Young. Its 1,494 multicolored glass prisms were designed to glow in synchrony to music from a 79-note glass bell carillon, making it the largest musical instrument of its kind on Earth. It stands in Fletcher-Bowron Square, in the shadow of City Hall, a stone’s throw from Grand Park.

Photo Credit: Julius Shulman

The Triforium was 40 years ahead of his time. The computer installed in the structure to synchronize the bells and lighting effects was plagued with problems from the beginning. It was politically contested and denounced by art critics. Its incandescent bulbs have pretty much burned out. The instrument was removed and sold. The control room was locked down. The lights went out. BUT STILL IT STANDS.

For three Fridays this fall, the Triforium will live again. Its original light and sound programs—rescued from dusty, eight-bit paper tapes and transcoded into modern software—will return, reacting in real-time to live musical performances. For the first time in decades, Angelenos will have an opportunity to experience the Triforium as it was meant to be experienced—as Joseph Young imagined, a “Rosetta Stone of art and technology.”

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