Sat February 18

Shows/Performances/News/Projects

Dear Friends,

Hope all are well. I’m really excited about the new year. I was recently awarded a grant from Creative Capital for a new work entitled Recapitulation. Recapitulation is an installation demonstrating the parallels between slavery and the contemporary prison industrial complex through animation, digital stills, sculpture, original music compositions, interactive sound and video. I’m honored that my project has been chosen for funding. I also recently received an AiR Award from the Headlands Center for the Arts in California.

Current visual art shows include my piece Four Score at the Tacoma Art Museums as part of the 10th Northwest Biennial. Proliferation is on view in Tulsa, Oklahoma at the Living Arts Gallery. The show, entitled EYE 4 EYE, present works addressing capital punishment.

Upcoming performances include Hollow Earth Radio’s Magma Festival, SAM’s ReMix, and a concert from curator Steve Peters commemorating the 100th Anniversary of the sinking of the Titanic. In addition to performing for this week’s Artist Trust auction and an upcoming performance for students at Dimmitt Middle School, I’m also looking forward to returning to perform for the Stafford Creek Corrections Center’s Black Celebration event. I will also be performing at a TEDx talk in Tacoma this spring.  As part of the Biennial in Tacoma, I’ll be offering a musical performance sometime over the next few months. I’ll keep you posted.

This spring I’ll be in residence at the Boys and Girls club in Tacoma, WA continuing to work on the Human Rights Legacy project, and collaborating with the multi-talented Tilson and Hollis Wong-Wear. I’ll work with students on music and spoken word. A short documentary film will be competed for this project as well as the installation of interactive glass benches in Tacoma’s People’s Park.

Finally, a partial from Convenient Truth from Four Score is on the cover of the most recent Grantmakers in the Arts reader. (Winter 2012)

Again, I’m really excited about this year. I really appreciate your support. About 5 years ago I started a work entitled Project 12. For a full year I presented one new visual art show each month, as well as performing 40 concerts. More than 331 days of visual art was presented that year. It was an endurance exercise to play catch-up on doing something I truly love doing. This year, and over the next few, I look at embracing new genres and new mediums. I really appreciate your support of my explorations.

I hope to see you sooner than later.

Many Thanks,
Paul

Thu September 01

Bumbershoot/Scratch Sound/Fall Events

Dear Friends,

Hope all are well. This weekend is Bumbershoot 2011, Seattle’s Music & Arts Festival. I was commissioned to create the fine arts poster for the festival this year. I also wrote a short three-movement composition to accompany the graphic score. Sustenance consists of contrasting parts titled Nourishment, Endurance, and Strength.

Next week I’m continuing with my series of interactive performances by presenting Scratch Sound as part of the show Game Theory at Cornish College of the Arts. Scratch Sound is an interactive performance utilizing custom-made scratch tickets that determine the mood of the improviser. A performance of Scratch Sound will take place October 14th in the Cornish Gallery.

I’m working on a public art project in Tacoma, WA that focuses on the human rights legacy of the region. I’ll be in residence at Hilltop Artist at Jason Lee Middle School, working on a piece for People’s Park. This school is amazing, and I’m honored to be working with the students and staff. In October, I’ll be back in the Bay Area working with We Players on Alcatraz. I’ll also be in residence at Head Royce School in Oakland for a couple of days performing and visiting with classes.

In addition to these events, I’m participating in Authorship, an experimental series of events at The Project Room on Capitol Hill here in Seattle. I’ll also be performing in Tacoma for the Fall Free For All arts festival.

I hope to see you sooner than later.

Many Thanks,
Paul

Mon June 20

Interactive performance: Scribe, Send, Sound – Bumbershoot Visual Art Poster

Dear Friends,
Hope all are well. Next week I’m continuing with my series of interactive performances by presenting Scribe Send Sound.
       
Audience members will be invited to send stories, poems and other writing to the band, before and during the show. New compositions will be created based on the messages received. Writers will also be invited to bring laptops and other mobile devices and write. The hope is to provide a space to create. Wi-Fi will be available during concert.

Paul Rucker: Cello, Double Bass
Hans Teuber: Saxophone
Eric Eagle: Drums

June 24th, 2011, 8pm
Chapel Performance Space at Good Shepherd Center
4649 Sunnyside Ave N, 4th Fl, Seattle, WA
Sliding Scale $5-$15, All ages.

Send writings to: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)

••••••

I’ve been asked to create this year’s Bumbershoot Fine Arts poster, which will also be a graphic musical score. “Sustenance” is a combination of photos and music notation, where the raindrops are musical notes and the clouds are phrase markings used in musical notation. A representation of a three-movement composition, it consists of contrasting parts titled nourishment, endurance and strength. The accompanying musical composition will be available as a free download beginning a week prior to the Festival. I’m honored to be part of this 40-year tradition, which has included some amazing artists.

If you can make it to the show next week, it would be great to see you. I’ll have a more complete update soon.

Many thanks,
Paul

Sun June 12

Video of live performance at Yerba Buena, February 3, 2011

Mon January 24

New Year: Alcatraz, Yerba Buena, Vito’s

I’m starting off the year with a viewing of PROLIFERATION at Alcatraz in San Francisco on January 29th. Now a National Park, Alcatraz hosts tours and a gallery. I was invited by We Players, a performance group that has been the artist in residence on Alcatraz for the past two years, to present this screening that will include an artist talk and solo cello performance.

I’ll be back in San Francisco the following week for an opening at Yerba Buena. I’m in a collaborative project with Jennie C. Jones. I’m providing the sound component for her amazing visuals for the run of the show, and I’ll also perform a concert for the opening on February 3rd.
On February 15th, I’ll be performing with Hans Teuber at Vito’s. It’s a legendary Seattle establishment, with a great vibe. This is one of only a few Seattle performances this year.

Hope all are well.
Please pass this on to your friends in San Francisco.
Hope to see you all- sooner than later.

Regards,
Paul

Mon February 15

Update

I hope you all are well. For those of you that missed my Cornish College show, new videos have been posted of Proliferation  – an animation illustrating the rapid proliferation of the US Prison system set to music. The complete video will be posted and released next month.

If you would like a copy of the DVD, please email me at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).

Also posted is Four Score  – an interactive installation that is a play on Abraham Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address and four graphic music scores.

Also, a video that documented some of my 50 cello concerts for the site-specific program is now on YouTube. You can view Strange Fruit here.

I’m working on the Trails Project, a project about the trail system in King County. This is a public art commission from 4Culture to create art inspired by the trail system. During this project I’ll be walking large portions of the trail, while creating new art work inspired by the trails. Later there will be performances and other aspects that will be open to the public. I’ll keep you informed.

I’ll be playing for a Haiti Benefit next week. If you can’t make it out, donations are accepted. Make out checks to Partners in Health. .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) if you have any questions.

I’m playing several shows over the next few months including The Stone in NYC, Earth Day in Kent, WA, and a May Day Music Marathon at Town Hall in Seattle entitled May Day! May Day! Dates and times are listed on my calendar.

I hope to have my solo cello CD complete soon before the upcoming shows.

Be well. Many Thanks.

Sat September 05

Welcome

Welcome to my new website. I’m excited about keeping you up to date with new projects and concerts.

I’m preparing for an interdisciplinary show entitled Live in the Hyphen, opening September 9th at Cornish College of the Arts.  This show will feature three new works, one of which was inspired during a “Prison Issues” residency at Blue Mountain Center earlier this year.  This piece, entitled Proliferation, maps out the number of prisons built in the US from the late 1800’s to 2005.  This 10 minute animated video with new music was created with the help of Prisoners of the Census, Rose Hayer, and animator Nathan Eyring.  This work offers a stark, honest view of the density of our current prison system.

I recently completed the soundtrack for an AIDS documentary that will premiere in New York and Los Angeles this month. Guest performers on the soundtrack include Hans Teuber, and Cham Ba. You can view the trailer here.

I hope all of you are well.