Listen: Harry Bertoia recordings
May 2015

Harry Bertoia sounding his sculptures, 1973. Photo: Beverly Twitchell
Listen to recordings of sound sculptor and furniture designer Harry Bertoia's Sonambient sculptures
Harry Bertoia - Unfolding | 0:18:35 |
Harry Bertoia - All And More | 0:18:09 |
Harry Bertoia - Here And Now | 0:21:04 |
Harry Bertoia - Sounds Beyond | 0:15:02 |
Harry Bertoia - Passage | 0:14:20 |
Harry Bertoia - Unknown | 0:13:06 |
Matt Krefting writes about the designer and artist in The Wire 375: "At first I’m hesitant to touch them, until Harry Bertoia’s son Val, acting as my guide, tells me that it’s okay as long as I’m gentle. I’m looking at the human-sized metal rods ranked before me like sonic soldiers in Harry Bertoia’s Sonambient barn in Bally, Pennsylvania, on a cold afternoon in January. I tentatively approach the sculpture that sounded the most comforting in the performance cum demonstration Val had just given me. With gloved hands I gently nudge one of a spray of bells atop the rod, causing it to swing towards the others without hitting them. To get a result, I more firmly cluster some rods together with both hands. As I slowly release them each bangs into its neighbours, creating a wholly unpredictable series of lovely chimes that linger for minutes after they were struck."
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