"Bob Rauschenberg was a close friend of mine.
He was brilliant, spiritual, a sweetheart, and fun!
We had long conversations about art, science, nature and music
…,and we often played music together, sometimes late into the night." - Kat Epple
Performing music at iconic art museums
For 20 years, musician Kat Epple was a friend of legendary visual artist Bob Rauschenberg. Rauschenberg invited Kat to perform music for his art openings and events around the world, including The Guggenheim Museums in New York and Bilbao, Spain, Palazzo dei Diamanti, Italy, NY Metropolitan Museum of Art, Gagosian Gallery NY, for his ROCI opening at the National Gallery, Washington DC, and for private parties at his homes in Manhattan and Captiva Island.
"Kat Epple's flute washes over the walls, and cleans up the room, to make space for the art." - Robert Rauschenberg
He told me he appreciated the way I didn’t just play music in those giant museum spaces that are like marble and granite canyons. Instead, I “played the room” by using the sound of the space reverberating and resonating.
Kat Epple and Robert Rauschenberg, a friendship
Kat describes her connection with Bob.
"Bob Rauschenberg had great stories about where his inspiration came from. I described to him that art looks like music to me, and he often asked me questions about that perspective. It was fun to watch him cook, to have dinner with him, dance with him, see him create art, play music with him, and travel with him.
I feel fortunate to have had such an inspiring person as my friend."
Collaborations
Strategic Structures - 1989
The "Strategic Structures" were a collaborative artwork created by the three performers, and highly acclaimed metal sculptor/designer, Lawrence Voytek. The structures are constructed utilizing a variety of metals, including aluminum, bell grade brass, steel, and both elemental and Alpha/Beta weapons-grade titanium. In physical form and appearance, each of these sound structures has the qualities of integral strength and beauty, and are stripped bare of superfluities. Electronic audio processors are incorporated into each structure to shape, color, finely tune, and amplify the rich timbres generated by these exotic metals as they are bowed, plucked, struck, and stroked. Each instrument has its own musical personality, name, and unique set of performance parameters.
This intimate concert was performed and recorded at Rauschenberg's Beach House on Captiva in 1989.
"Strategic Structures" Album with Rauschenberg
Robert Rauschenberg - Strategic Structures
Kat Epple - Strategic Structures, synthesizer, and electronic flute
Bob Stohl - Strategic Structures and Lyricon
Lawrence Voytek - Strategic Structures co-creator
The twenty nine minute spontaneous composition features other-worldly, resonant tones, ranging from foreboding to angelic, and was created and performed live, late one night in 1989 at Rauschenberg's Beach House on Captiva Island, Florida. This is a digital recording of the music exactly as it happened live. It was a magical night, an inspired collaboration, in an exhilarating setting.