Peter Van Riper

Peter van Riper (July 8, 1942 – November 18, 1998) was an American sound and light environment artist, musician, and pioneer of laser art and holography.

Biography Van Riper was born in Detroit's Inner City, Michigan, the son of a psychoanalyst and an avid record collector. During the 1960s he received a B.A. Far Eastern History, and Art History from the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, graduated in Art History at Tokyo University and the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, and took part in Fluxus performances and exhibitions in Japan. He later appeared on Tellus Audio Cassette Magazine #24 FluxTellus, Harvestworks, 1990, as part of an ensemble performing George Maciunas's Solo For Lips And Tongue. He collaborated with Fluxus members during exhibitions and performances, but Van Riper's influences are much wider. He is a true sound artist whose music is often inspired by Far Eastern traditions from Japan or Indonesia.

From 1967 to 1970, van Riper was a member of Editions Inc., an Ann Arbor, Michigan gallery of holography, animated along laser physicist Lloyd Cross and artist Jerry Pethick (1935–2003). In 1970 they organized an exhibition at the Cranbrook Academy, and at the Finch College Museum in New York. Both Cross and Pethick co-founded the School of Holography, San Francisco, California. Van Riper exhibited holograms during The Nature Of Light: Exploring Unconventional Photographic Techniques exhibition, Joyce Goldstein Gallery, New York, 1996, and also created a sound performance during the exhibition opening.

Collaborations With choreographer Simone Forti In the late 1970s and early 1980s, Van Riper worked with dancer Simone Forti, providing lighting design and live sound accompaniment to her dance performances. An avant garde dancer and choreographer, Forti took part in some of Allan Kaprow's 1960s happenings and specialized in improvised dancing. While working with her, Van Riper mostly used soprano and sopranino saxophones but also various devices and objects or even tape music. He also moved freely around the stage and dancer.

With visual artist Eugènia Balcells

Van Riper provided what he calls Acobxcvxcvustic Metal Music and small percussion works to Barcelona video and installation artist Eugènia Balcells (born 1943), who settled in New York from 1979 to 1988. For TV Weave, an installation with TV screens first showed at Metrònom gallery, Barcelona, 1985, Peter Van Riper played chiming music from suspended aluminium baseball bats. An excerpt from aluminium baseball bats music can be found on The Aerial #4 CD. Says Balcells:

With performance artist Sha Sha Higby

Van Riper collaborated with yet another performance artist: Sha Sha Higby.

Other works On December 6, 1982, he performed together with Jackson Mac Low and percussionist Z'EV, during a show called Language/Theater: Language/Noise, at Martinson Hall, Public Theater, New York. That same year he was included in a collective exhibition called Young Fluxus, Artists Space gallery, New York, 1982. He composed music for Seven Days in Space, a 90' video of NASA space exploration:

List of sound works The Simple Existence of Any One Thing, in 'Everson Video 75', Everson Museum of Art, Syracuse, NY, 1975 Big Room for kalimba, saxophones and plastic hose (w/ Forti choreography), 1975 Red Green (w/ Forti choreography), 1975 Plumbing Music, tape music created for a Simone Forti choreography 'Planet', 1976 Three From Piru for a Simone Forti choreography 'Fan Dance', 1975 This, a 3 channel installation with book, The Kitchen, New York, NY, December 1976 It readings for performance, The Kitchen, New York, NY, December 1976 Art on the Beach collective exhibition, Battery Park, Lower Manhattan, NY, 1978

Indian Cicle for sopranino (video performance by Eugènia Balcells), 1981 TV Weave, for aluminium baseball bats, music for Eugènia Balcells' installation, Metrònom gallery, Barcelona, 1985 Sound/Light for Japanese gong to an Eugènia Balcells installation, Metrònom gallery, Barcelona and Experimental Intermedia Foundation, NY, 1985 Shadows, sound installation w/ Eugènia Balcells, Roulette, NY, 1987 Seeing/Hearing, 1991 (w/ Forti choreography) Collaboration, 1991 (w/ Forti choreography)

Recorded music Sound To Movement. New Music For Saxophones, LP, 1979 VRBLU, (A-1982-48) Room Space. New Music For Saxophones, LP, 1981 VRBLU (A-1982-49) Windows to the Sky , LP Music for Spaces, LP Indian Circle, cassette, self-release Direct Contact, cassette, Deep Listening Institute Sustainable Music, cassette, Deep Listening Institute Music for Spaces CD, Van Riper Editions, 1997 Marking Time CD-ROM, in collaboration with Jerry Pethick, Kamloops Art Gallery, 1998

Appears on: George Maciunas Solo For Lips And Tongue, included in Tellus Audio Cassette Magazine #24 FluxTellus, Harvestworks, 1990 Heart included in The Aerial #4 cassette & CD, What Next? label, 1991 Acoustic Metal Music included in Anti-Disc I, 33 rpm flexi disc, Anti-Utopia, 1990 NAP CD Connection, CD published by New Arts Program, Pennsylvania

Personal Life Van Riper was married to dancer, artist, and choreographer Simone Forti.