COLLABORATING WITH MARIO LAVISTA
composer
Orblitt
1984, wood and brass base, 72x36x36 in, with music by Mario Lavista
1984
At the Aspen Design conference, Mario Lavista introduced his avant-garde music with words about having been inspired by visual art and Li Po (701-762) poetry. After hearing the music, filled with emotion, Rita Blitt ran backstage to meet Lavista. She invited him to join her and her husband in her studio after the program.
Lavista selected a pastel drawing in exchange for a recording of the music she had just heard. The next day Blitt ran to the library and chose a book of Li Po poetry and responded with a series of pastel drawings to randomly chosen phrases that inspired her. Each work in the Li Po series of pastels on paper illustrates one line from a poem written by the seventh century Chinese romantic poet. "Honored for his talent in elegantly describing a scene with the least amount of information, Li Po wrote poems that offered room for the reader’s imagination. Likewise, Blitt’s illustrations render his words with simple imagery held together by line and soft color. As a series, the pastel works cultivate a feeling of tranquility – the intention of both Li Po and Blitt."
After leaving Aspen and returning to sculpture fabrication, Blitt worked with a sound technician to have the music of Mario Lavista heard in response to one’s approach to her new "Orblitt" sculpture being created for an office building.
Throne of Serenity
1986, wood, 48x26x18 in
1986
Desiring to make a work that makes music for a coming exhibition, Blitt created her “Throne of Serenity." The seat of the chair internally housed a cassette playback unit with pre-recorded tape loops of Mario Lavista’s music, which was triggered when one sat on the chair. People often began meditating when they sat down and his music began.