Thursday 22 October 2009, 18.00–21.00

In this Late at Tate celebrating the return of Rothko's Seagram Murals to Tate Liverpool for the first time in 20 years, Achim Borchardt-Hume, formerly of Tate Modern where he was responsible for curating the recent Rothko exhibition and now Chief Curator at the Whitechapel Gallery, London, explores the Seagram Murals through Tate's own history in a unique talk.

Colourfield for Strings is a multi-channel immersive sound installation in conjunction with the exhibition of Mark Rothko’s Seagram Murals in the Wolfson gallery at Tate Liverpool.

Created by Colin Fallows, Colourfield for Strings is a multi-layered sound painting for prepared and treated electric guitars arranged in a sequence of rhythms and structures with reference to the nine murals as a musical score. Large scale sound shapes are painted from a rich sonic mix of electric guitar recordings by Colin Fallows and Will Sergeant. As the piece unfolds the layers of sustained drones evolve into ever more complex rhythms forming dense sonic strata rich in harmonic overtones.

Colourfield for Strings is one of a series of mono-chordal compositions for multiple prepared and treated electric guitars. The piece paints fields of sound creating overtones that conjure up the presence of imaginary instruments.

Composed, arranged and produced by Colin Fallows

All guitars: Colin Fallows and Will Sergeant

Recorded and co-produced with John J. Campbell at FTC Studio, Liverpool.

Biographies

Colin Fallows

Colin Fallows is Professor of Sound and Visual Arts at Liverpool John Moores University. He has explored crossovers between sound and the visual arts as an artist, researcher, curator, lecturer and has produced work for live ensemble performance, recordings, exhibition, installation, radio and the Internet. His artistic and curatorial projects have featured in numerous international festivals and galleries. He is the founder and Artistic Director of Audio Research Editions, a limited edition imprint for artists’ soundworks, which since 1998 has published over two hundred works by artists from over twenty countries.

Will Sergeant

Will Sergeant is best known for his work as songwriter and guitarist with Echo & The Bunnymen with whom he has recorded and performed world-wide for thirty years. He also has long-term ties with the experimental side of life, in the form of performances and recordings as Glide. His Glide recordings, Space Age Freak Out and Performance are released on Ochre Records. He has collaborated with Colin Fallows since the 1980s on a variety of international artistic projects exploring the outer edges of experimental music.

18.00-19.00 Achim Borchardt-Hume talk Rothko and Tate: A Long-term Relationship
Auditorium
£4, £2 (Concessions), Booking required

18.00-21.00 Colourfield for Strings
Wolfson Gallery
Free, no booking required

Tate Liverpool 
£4 (£2 concessions), booking recommended

This event is related to the Mark Rothko: The Seagram Murals exhibition