Las Vegas Weekly

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Tim Bavington’s sculptural translation of Aaron Copland’s “Fanfare for the Common Man”—designed to serve as a backdrop for outdoor Smith Center concerts—will be installed this month in Downtown’s Symphony Park. The Last Vegas artist is known for correlating the 12-tone music scale with a 12-color palette to create large (striped) paintings that are loose translations of rock songs (the Stones to The Darkness). This is Bavington’s first sculpture.

Materials: Steel pipes and automotive paint.

Dimensions: 80 feet long. The tallest pipe stands 26 feet from the base.

Height: The varying height marks dynamics in the music, beginning in forte, ending in forte fortissimo.

Width: The width of the poles loosely marks the durations of the notes.

Palette: Derived from sign painter palette (1-Shot Enamel). The root note (B-flat) of the song is blue/green. The third (D) is orange. The fifth (F) is magenta.

Ground lights: The meter keeping time. Lighting placed every two feet represents 40 bars.

Interpretation: Bavington regards the piece as a translation of the music: “The colors might get bent, just as with Hendrix, a note might get bent.”

The last pole: The unpainted pole represents a musical rest at the end of the piece.