THE COLLECTION
Tim Bavington (American, born England 1966)
Physical S.E.X.
- Date:
- 2005
- Medium:
- Synthetic polymer paint on canvas, three panels
- Dimensions:
- 6' x 13' 5" (182.9 x 408.9 cm)
- Credit Line:
- Fractional and promised gift of Michael Lynne
- MoMA Number:
- 969.2005.a-c
- Copyright:
- © 2013 Tim Bavington
Out of Time: A Contemporary View
August 30, 2006–April 9, 2007
Bavington interprets rock-and-roll guitar solos by translating the sounds, beats, and rhythms of individual tracks into paint. Having elaborated his own twelve-hue color chart, he assigns a particular color to each note, and the width of each painted band corresponds to the note’s length. Black is used for pauses; it echoes the color of audio speakers and the look of obsolete "boom boxes." In this work the artist has rendered in visual terms a guitar solo from the song "Physical S.E.X.," by the contemporary British band Darkness. "Each part of the composition is presented in a specific order with a specific duration to a passive listener," Bavington notes of his painting. He invites viewers to "begin at different points, to scan and meander across the canvas, creating our own chronology."
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