Louie Louie
Artist
Tim Bavington
Year2013
Classification
sculpture
Medium
acrylic, stainless steel, aluminum and paint
Dimensions95 x 10 5/16 x 285 in. (241.3 x 26.2 x 723.9 cm)
Credits
Commissioned through the Art in Architecture Program
Fine Arts Collection
U.S. General Services Administration
Fine Arts Collection
U.S. General Services Administration
- Known for creating vibrant representations of sound-wave patterns from music samples, Tim Bavington translated the rock-and-roll classic Louie Louie into this colorful artwork for Portland’s federal building. The sculpture’s 80 cast-acrylic panels are a three-dimensional depiction of the sound waves that make up the 80 bars of the song. Bavington assigned colors to spectrographic images of the music, and the resulting color combinations correspond to the song’s changing chords. Viewed from different angles and in shifting light throughout the day, the forms appear fluid and ever-changing. Richard Berry’s original song was relatively unknown until 1963, when both The Kingsmen and Paul Revere & the Raiders cut separate versions at the same recording studio in Portland. Bavington selected Louie Louie as the inspiration for his artwork because of the iconic song’s ties to the city and its significant contribution to the genre of music that most inspires him.
