Fulcrum Arts To Hold Its
Annual Benefit
Honoring William Basinski and LIGO
(Laser Interferometer Gravitational-wave Observatory)
Held at Carnegie Observatories
On Wednesday, November 7, 2018

Join Fulcrum Arts on Wednesday, November 7, 2018 as it hosts its annual benefit event. This year, the nonprofit will honor experimental composer William Basinski and LIGO (Laser Interferometer Gravitational-wave Observatory). Fulcrum Arts Annual Benefit will support its mission to advance the fields of art and science and to support artists to make work on a civic scale, develop new modes of thinking — and even new raw materials — at the forefront of the intersection of the fields. Treasured contributors to the Fulcrum Arts community, both LIGO and William Basinski have collaborated with Fulcrum Arts through performances, exhibitions, and residencies, and each demonstrates bold experimentation and achievement at the forefront of culture and science. The event will take place from 6:00 to 9:00pm on November 7^th at Carnegie Observatories campus in Pasadena (813 Santa Barbara St., Pasadena, CA 91101). Tickets will go on sale on October 15. Support Fulcrum Arts’ mission and vision for $150 in advance or $200 at the door. Reservations can be made at this link after Oct. 15: http://www.fulcrumarts.org.

The fundraiser will coincide with Fulcrum Arts biennial AxS Festival taking place this year from November 2 through the 11. Money raised at the fundraiser will allow Fulcrum Arts (formerly Pasadena Arts Council) to continue providing training and support to over 80 arts organizations through its Emerge program; and will contribute to advances in AxS (Art and Science) programming, produced by Fulcrum Arts.

The NSF (National Science Foundation)-funded LIGO observatories were conceived, constructed, and are operated by Caltech and MIT. David Reitze and Albert Lazzarini will accept the honor on behalf of LIGO at the benefit. For William Basinski fans, the composer is set to release Selva Oscura, a new collaborative album with fellow ambient artist Lawrence English on October 12. Spin magazine shared an excerpt here

Fulcrum Arts’ new annual benefit pays homage to the stunning legacy of the Pasadena Arts Council’s former Gold Crown and AxS Awards, while connecting its annual benefit more closely to the arts and sciences, expanding the impact of its work regionally and nationally.

Through the Annual Benefit and in all of its work, Fulcrum Arts is heightening and expanding upon Pasadena’s legacy of cultural and scientific experimentation and achievement.

“In celebrating our first year under Fulcrum’s new brand identity,” declares Robert Crouch, Executive and Artistic Director Fulcrum Arts, “we will join the forces of great achievements in the fields of the arts and sciences in an unforgettable evening, held at the Carnegie Observatories campus in Pasadena, in support of our regionwide cultural programming in 2019.”

A B O U T:

William Basinski

William Basinski is a classically trained musician and composer who has been working in experimental media for over 30 years in NYC and most recently, California. Employing obsolete technology and analogue tape loops, his haunting and melancholy soundscapes explore the temporal nature of life and resound with the reverberations of memory and the mystery of time. His collaborative work with James Elaine is presented in festivals and museums internationally, and concerts are presented to sold out crowds around the world. Orchestral transcriptions of key work, The Disintegration Loops by Maxim Moston, have been performed at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Queen Elizabeth Hall and La Batie Festival in Geneva, Switzerland and most recently Dark Mofo Festival in Hobart, Tasmania. Basinski is currently touring the world in support of his latest work, On Time Out of Time, which incorporates recordings from LIGO’s interferometers.

Laser Interferometer Gravitational-wave Observatory (LIGO)

LIGO is a globally renowned organization for gravitational-wave research, providing opportunities for the broader scientific community to participate in detector development, observations, and data analysis. In 2017, three LIGO founders Rainer Weiss, Kip Thorne and Barry Barish were honored by Nobel Prizes in physics, achieving global top honors for their pioneering work. The organization has collaborated with Fulcrum Arts’ resident artists through its AxS Incubator program, combining advancements in gravitational modeling and quantum hydrodynamics in Evelina Domnitch & Dmitry Gelfand’s 2017 work, Orbifold.

Fulcrum Arts

Based in Pasadena, California, Fulcrum Arts empowers artists to invent, inspire, and provoke. The 501(c)(3) provides resources and opportunities for artists, collectives, and independent arts organizations to advance their visions and contribute to a vibrant, challenging, and inclusive creative community. The nonprofit advances the fields of art and science to impact culture on a national level through exhibitions, partnerships, interdisciplinary symposia and convenings, and residencies.

A×S Festival

A×S Festival is a citywide celebration of art and science presented in collaboration with over a dozen partner organizations. While often described as occupying opposite ends of the spectrum, art and science are instead understood to be powerful engines of contemporary culture. As a thematic pivoting point, A×S provides opportunities for discovering the fascinations, curiosities, and tensions ignited by pondering integrations of art and science. The 2018 A×S Festival, will incorporate the concept of the “wunderkammer,” or “cabinet of curiosities,” as a model for exploring the intersection of art and science.

LINKS:

• Fulcrum Arts (FA) – https://www.fulcrumarts.org
• A×S Festival – https://www.axsfestival.org
• William Basinski – http://www.mmlxii.com
• LIFO Fact Sheet – https://www.ligo.caltech.edu/system/media_files/binaries/300/original/ligo-fact-sheet.pdf
• Carnegie Observatories Visitor Information – https://obs.carnegiescience.edu/information-visitors
• FA Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/fulcrumarts
• FA Twitter – https://twitter.com/Fulcrum_Arts
• FA Instagram – https://www.instagram.com/fulcrumarts

#       #       #

For more information, photos, or to schedule an interview with Robert Crouch, Executive and Artistic Director Fulcrum Arts, William Basinski, or a LIGO rep, please contact Green Galactic’s Lynn Tejada at 213-840-1201 or lynn@greengalactic.com.