Max Eastley


Max Eastley is a British visual and sound artist. He is part of the Cape Farewell Climate Change project. He studied painting and graphic art at Newton Abbot Art School and then went on to gain a BA in Fine Art at Middlesex University. He is a sculptor, musician and composer. His primary instrument is a unique electro-acoustic monochord, developed from an aeolian sculpture. 'The Arc' consists of a single string stretched lengthwise across a long piece of wood which can be played with a bow, fingers or short glass rods. The end of the instrument has a microphone attached so the basic sound can be amplified, recorded and run through sound effect programs.
Eastley has collaborated with many different artists and musicians on performances, installations and recordings including: David Toop, Brian Eno, Paul Burwell, Victor Gama, Hugh Davies, Steve Beresford, Peter Greenaway, Dave Hunt, David Buckland, Evan Parker, Peter Cusack, and Spaceheads. From 2001–2002, Eastley was a visiting fellow at John Moores University Liverpool and is currently an AHRC research fellow at Oxford Brookes University researching Aeolian phenomena. On 17 May 1989, Eastley was awarded a prize in the 'Learning Spaces Category' of the working in the City European Communities Architectural Ideas Competition.

Selected discography

Eastley has worked across a variety of genres including: improvised and experimental music; folk music; popular song; jazz; compositions using environmental recordings as well as musical resources. He has also composed music for film and dance. Eastley was part of the group 'The 49 Americans', who played together for a period during the 1980s and produced several albums together.

Selected performances

Eastley has performed as a solo musician and in many combinations with other artists. He has worked on stage with his installations and with film and has created and performed in musical/theatrical performances such as: 'Whirled Music'.

Selected installations and exhibitions

Eastley has done a wide variety of installations worldwide, many of which use moving parts to create ambient soundscapes while engaging the observer visually. Many recordings of the below installations appear on the CD: 'Max Eastley Installation Recordings 1973–2008'

Installations for Cape Farewell

Eastley collaborated with sound engineer Dave Hunt to develop an innovative computer-controlled amplification system for these installations. Eastley has been part of the Cape Farewell project since 2005 and has been on three trips to Spitsbergen with the organisation. Sound clip of bearded seals
  • Ice Garden, Oxford 2005
  • Eden Project, 2009
The following installations were part of a touring exhibition:

Publications featured in

Eastley has appeared in several publications since the 1970s, including:
  • 'Sonourgy', published by 1974
  • 'New and Rediscovered Musical Instruments', published by Quartz 1975
  • 'Echo: The Images of Sound', published by 1987
  • 'Grove's Dictionary of Music',
  • 'Experimental Musical Instruments Vol. V #2' 1989
  • No.678 Vol.45, 1994
  • , published by Errant Bodies 1999
  • 'ICC Catalogue Magazine', Tokyo, 28 January 2000 Issue
  • 'Leonardo Music Journal' 2001
  • 2006
  • 'The Fundamentals of Sonic Art and Sound Design', published by AVA Academia 2007
  • 'Klangräume der Kunst', 2010
  • , Issue No. 265 March 2006, Issue No. 291 May 2008

Film, radio and dance

Film

  • 'Water Wrackets', film by Peter Greenaway, music by Max Eastley – 1978
  • 'Clocks of the Midnight Hours', the work of Max Eastley directed by Simon Reynell, Channel 4 TV/Arts Council Great Britain – 1989
  • 'Art from a Changing Arctic', Produced by Cape Farewell, directed by David Hinton – 2005
  • 'Kinetic Drawings', Film by Helen Petts of the exhibition at the Metropole Gallery, Folkestone – 2008
  • 'Piper of Invisible Fires', Film by Helen Petts and Max Eastley at Dilston Grove, London – 2010

Radio

Dance

Eastley composed music for the Siobhan Davies Production: 'Plants and Ghosts' in 2002.

Reviews

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