U.S. General Services Administration
Art in Architecture: “Louie Louie” | Tim Bavington
by Cynthia Henry
In 2010, GSA’s commissioned artist Tim Bavington to create “Louie Louie” (2013) for the Edith Green-Wendell Wyatt Federal Building in Portland, Oregon.
Known for creating vibrant representations of sound-wave patterns from music samples, Bavington translated the rock-and-roll classic “Louie Louie” into a colorful artwork for the Portland building. The sculpture’s 80 cast-acrylic panels are a three-dimensional depiction of the sound waves that make up the 80 bars of the song. The artwork is 23.75 feet wide and nearly 8 feet tall. Bavington received a GSA Design Award for this project in 2014.
Bavington assigned colors to spectrographic images of the music, and the resulting color combinations correspond to the song’s changing chords. Viewed from different angles and in shifting light throughout the day, the forms appear fluid and ever-changing.
Richard Berry’s original song from 1957 was relatively unknown until 1963, when both The Kingsmen and Paul Revere & the Raiders cut separate versions at the same recording studio in Portland. Bavington selected “Louie Louie” as the inspiration for his artwork because of the iconic song’s ties to the city and its significant contribution to the genre of music that most inspires him.
“Louie Louie” is the second Art in Architecture commission that Bavington received. In 2010, GSA also commissioned the artist to design and develop a large-scale installation for the U.S. Land Port of Entry in Otay Mesa, California. In 2019, Bavington began construction and the artwork is scheduled for completion and installation in 2023.
About the artist
Tim Bavington was born in Norwich, England in 1966. He moved to the United States in 1984 to pursue a career in art. In 1990, he graduated from the Art Center College of Design in Pasadena, California, with a BFA in illustration. In 2000, he received his MFA from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. While in graduate school, Bavington began exploring art from an optical standpoint, using shapes, colors and patterns in unique ways to create images that look as if they are in motion.
The content of Bavington’s work is due in part to growing up in England in the 1970s and early 80s. He became immersed in rock music and everything associated with it, including music by The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, The Verve, and Paul Weller.
Throughout the year, we will highlight the artists and artworks in Region 10’s federal and leased spaces as we celebrate the 50th anniversary of GSA’s Art in Architecture program.
- Art in Architecture: Freedom | Philip McCracken
- Art in Architecture: Louie Louie | Tim Bavington
- Art in Architecture: Quiltroad | Sung-Ho Choi
- Art in Architecture: Grass is Greener | Tad Savinar
- Art in Architecture: Passage | Maxine Martell
- Art in Architecture: Arctic Amphibian | Gerald Conaway
- GSA Celebrates 50 Years of the Art in Architecture Program