Play the Art

<5:5:3> by Paul Kikuchi

Paul Kikuchi is a percussionist, composer and instrument builder. As a musician, he performs in a number of different ensembles including the Empty Cage Quartet, Orkestar Zirkonium, and Paul Kikuchi’s Portable Sanctuary. Kikuchi runs Prefecture Records, a small record label specializing in experimental percussion music. His honors include an Artist Trust Fellowship and a Montalvo Arts Center Residency.

Kikuchi scours surplus stores, salvage yards, and street corners to find discarded metal he fashions into musical instruments. His work, both aurally and visually, signals an uneasy commingling of childhood play with machinistic violence. Kikuchi's two percussion sculptures -- Artillery Welcome Bell and <5:5:3> -- invite the visitor to play and reflect on the meaning of sounds made from detonated shells and saw blades.