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Trimpin Documentary Screens at SIFF 2009

Trimpin: The Sound of Invention follows artist/inventor/engineer/composer Trimpin as he shuns the hype and hyperbole of the commercial art world, while his freewheeling sculptures and outrageous musical experiments are cherished by museums all over the world.

Filmed over two years, this cinema verité documentary feature follows the artist/inventor as he devises a perpetual motion machine, builds a 20-meter tower of automatic electric guitars, and collaborates with the Kronos Quartet on an outrageous world premiere. The film will delight anyone interested in the mysteries, pitfalls, and sheer joy of creative experiment.

The documentary screens at the Seattle International Film Festival on Friday, May 22, 7 pm at SIFF Theatre; Saturday, May 23, 1:30 pm at SIFF Theatre; and Monday, June 1, 4:30 pm at the Kirkland Arts Center. More info and tickets here.

To give you a taste of this eccentic creator, here are some of the everyday objects Trimpin has used to make music. The “dip-tip chickens” make our minds boggle!

whistles
duck calls toy guitars
gramophones
hair bands
Tupperware
toy monkeys
wooden shoes
dip-tip chickens
bunsen burners
beer glasses
typewriters
office lamps
juice dispensers
cathode ray tubes
electrical fan blades
slide projectors
vacuum cleaner
pottery wheels
aircraft cable
turkey basters
steel chains
saw blades
a 10,000-volt neon transformer