Ellen Fullman and Theresa Wong, Soundless
Presented by MOCA, Fulcrum Arts, and Chapman University

Composer, instrument maker, and performer Ellen Fullman (b. 1957, Memphis, TN) has focused on the development of her signature project, The Long String Instrument, for over forty years. Using dozens of tuned strings, each over 50 feet in length, Fullman transforms physical space into a site-specific musical instrument. Soundless is composed by Fullman and her longtime collaborator, cellist and guitarist Theresa Wong (b. 1976, Schenectady, NY). The work explores string resonance and its capacity to create a space of connection, empathy, and multiplicity. The spectrally undulating drones of the Long String Instrument combine with rhythms created by Fullman’s unique ‘shoveler’ tool as well as Wong’s performance on cello and electric guitar, spatialized through four-channel amplification. The title of the piece comes from a line of poetry by the 12th century female Taoist, Sun Bu-er: “In the soundless is the ultimate pleasure all along.“ Translator Thomas Cleary explains that the soundless is a metaphor for the limitless and the state of wholeness prior to the dichotomy of subject and object. In this piece, the duo aims to blur background and foreground to create a dynamic sound field constantly in flux. At times, the duo consciously aims for a phenomenon they call 'bloom', where a cello or guitar tone sympathetically resonates with a frequency already sounding on the LSI, or triggers an overtone or subtone that isn't yet sounding. Together, Fullman and Wong create a work that responds to and is shaped by the industrial architecture of WAREHOUSE.

Soundless was commissioned by room40 following the label’s critically acclaimed release of their album, Harbors.

After graduating from the Kansas City Art Institute with a BFA in Sculpture Ellen Fullman began developing The Long String Instrument in her St. Paul Minnesota studio in 1980 and moved to Brooklyn the following year. Inspired by composer and instrument builder Harry Partch and Alvin Lucier’s Music on a Long Thin Wire, Fullman’s large-scale work creates droning organ-like overtones that are as unique in the world of sound as her vision of the instrument itself. Through her research in just intonation tuning theory string harmonics and musical instrument design Fullman has developed a compositional and performative approach that expands harmonic motion through a focus on upper partial tones. She has recorded extensively with this unusual instrument and has resonated architectural spaces in festivals across the world. Awards include: Guggenheim Fellowship Music Composition (2020), Foundation for Contemporary Arts Award Music/Sound (2015), and DAAD Artists-In-Berlin Program residency (2000). Her recording, The Long String Instrument (Superior Viaduct, 2015), first issued on Apollo Records in 1985, was selected as the number one reissue for 2015 by The Wire. Her work was cited by Alvin Lucier in his book, Music 109: Notes on Experimental Music (Wesleyan University Press, 2012).

Theresa Wong is a composer, multi-instrumentalist, and intermedia artist active at the intersection of composition, improvisation, and the synergy of multiple disciplines. Her works include Fluency of Trees for solo cello and voice which premiered at the Other Minds Festival in 2022, and She Dances Naked Under Palm Trees, commissioned by pianist Sarah Cahill for The Future Is Female project. As a 2024 Guggenheim Fellow in Music Composition, she is currently developing Vox Lumina, an intermedia opera and installation. The work will be a poetic-philosophical exploration of how race and gender constructs influence us. Recent commissions include works for San Francisco Girls Chorus, Peninsula Women’s Chorus, NakedEye Ensemble, Long Beach Opera, Del Sol Quartet, and Splinter Reeds. She has shared her work internationally at venues including Fondation Cartier in Paris; Cafe Oto and Barbican Centre in London; San Francisco Asian Art Museum; Museo d’Arte Orientale in Torino; Sydney Festival; and The Stone in New York City. Wong is currently based in the San Francisco Bay Area.

Ellen Fullman and Theresa Wong, Soundless is presented as part of Energy Fields: Vibrations of the Pacific as well as the 2024 Fulcrum Festival. Energy Fields: Vibrations of the Pacific is co-presented by Fulcrum Arts and Chapman University. The Fulcrum Festival is made possible with the support of the National Endowment for the Arts. For more information, visit fulcrumfestival.org. Sound system for “Soundless” provided by Meyer Sound Labs.

Energy Fields is among more than 60 exhibitions and programs presented as part of PST ART. Returning in September 2024 with its latest edition, PST ART: Art & Science Collide, this landmark regional event explores the intersections of art and science, both past and present. PST ART is presented by Getty. For more information about PST ART: Art & Science Collide, visit pst.art.


Ellen Fullman and Theresa Wong, Soundless is presented at MOCA as part of Wonmi’s WAREHOUSE Programs

Wonmi’s WAREHOUSE Programs is organized by Alex Sloane, Associate Curator, and is produced by Amelia Charter, Producer of Performance and Programs with Michele Huizar, Programming Assistant, The Museum of Contemporary Art Los Angeles.

Wonmi's WAREHOUSE Programs is founded by Wonmi & Kihong Kwon and Family.

Performances at MOCA are supported by the MOCA Fund for Performance with generous funding provided by Betsy Greenberg.