William Basinski’s On Time Out of Time Utilizes the Sounds of Two Black Holes Merging
On Time Out of Time is a suite of works originally commissioned for the 2017 installations ‘ER=EPR’ and 'Orbihedron' by artists Evelina Domnitch and Dmitry Gelfand (in collaboration with Jean-Marc Chomaz and LIGO) for the exhibition, ‘Limits of Knowing’ at Martin-Gropius-Bau, Berlin by curator, Isabel de Sena.
These works utilize, among other things, exclusive source recordings from the interferometers of LIGO (Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory) capturing the sounds of the merging of two distant massive black holes, 1.3 billion years ago.
The CD and Digital formats feature two tracks: The 40-minute title track, “On Time Out of Time,” as well as “4(E+D)4(ER=EPR)”, a track recorded for the aforementioned installation. The vinyl LP format features two exclusive mixes of the title track: “On Time Out of Time” on the a-side; and “On Time Out of Time (The Lovers)” on the b-side, made especially for the vinyl format.
William Basinski is a classically trained musician and composer who has been working in experimental media for over 40 years – originally in NYC, and most recently Los Angeles. 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 epic 4-disc masterwork, The Disintegration Loops received international critical acclaim and was chosen as one of Pitchfork’s Top 18 Albums of 2004. The Temporary Residence Ltd. deluxe box set reissue of The Disintegration Loops (2012) was awarded the rare perfect 10.0 by Pitchfork, and ranked as Best Reissue of 2012. Installations and films made in collaboration with artist-filmmaker, James Elaine, have been presented in festivals and museums internationally, and his concerts are presented to sold-out crowds around the world. Basinski was chosen by Music Director, Antony Hegarty to create music for the Robert Wilson opera, The Life and Death of Marina Abramovic which had its world premiere at the Manchester International Festival in July 2011, and toured Europe in 2012 and North America in 2013. Orchestral transcriptions of The Disintegration Loops by Maxim Moston have been performed at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Queen Elizabeth Hall, La Batie Festival in Geneva, Switzerland, as well as Tauron Nowa Muzyka Festival in Katowice, Poland in 2017, and the 2018 Dark Mofo Festival in Hobart,Tasmania. Basinski is currently touring the world in support of his latest work, On Time Out of Time.
