-
Lilian Bland Built Her Own Airplane With No Formal Training
In 1910, Lilian Bland was building an airplane in Northern Ireland with no formal training and plenty of improvisation. When the right equipment wasn’t available, a whiskey bottle and her aunt’s ear trumpet would have to do.
-
Conlon Nancarrow Wrote Music for Performers Who Couldn’t Exist
Conlon Nancarrow wrote music that human pianists could not physically play. His solution was radical: he composed directly onto player-piano rolls, punching thousands of instructions by hand so a machine could execute impossible speeds and rhythms. Some pieces took a year to make.
-
James Hampton Built a Masterpiece in Secret
James Hampton spent about 14 years secretly building a massive religious artwork in a Washington, D.C., garage. He used cardboard, foil, furniture, mirrors, light bulbs, and discarded materials to make roughly 180 objects. The Smithsonian eventually acquired the work—after Hampton died.
-
Mary Ellen Bute Made Music Visible
Mary Ellen Bute was making electronic visual art before “computer animation” existed. Working with engineers and scientific equipment, she used oscilloscopes, electronics, light, and film to turn musical ideas into moving images. She was effectively building a new medium before it had a name.
Roundabout: Creative Chaos
For the curious, the creative, and the slightly obsessed.