Michael Stearns // Planetary Unfolding // "Light Beam"

One of the records I listened to tonight was Planetary Unfolding. Released in 1981. Just after that, in 1982, he built "The Beam", a twelve foot long acoustic instrument strung with 24 piano strings. I'll never fail to be excited by strange, unique and great sounding developments, nor an apparently material love for how ridiculously mental they often looked. The following photograph is Michael, no doubt avec some wondrous and quite possibly indeterminable rationale and musical philosophy doing the twist in his extra terrestrial brain. I believe that the end of the world control device he is seen by is actually the Serge Modular Music System, which all children should get one Christmas. Unfortunately, I never did.

"What I hope is transferred to the listener of my music is a certain depth. I think the depth that I am really speaking of is that we as human beings are the artistic process here on the planet, as individuals, groups, countries and as a global experience. What we create and think of as our artistic outpouring, be it music, the painted art, a sculpture or just a beautiful dinner that we might create for somebody, are really metaphors or hieroglyphics for the depth of our own participation in the moments that we create them. I hope that this depth creates a context for other people to experience deeper things inside of themselves."