The combination of static surface textures and extremely active harmonic movement generates a highly original music that has influenced a generation of composers. The pieces are created on tape from unprocessed recordings of precisely tuned long tones played on traditional instruments. In performance, live musicians may play, wandering through the audience changing the sound texture through reinforcement of or interference with the existing tunings. Niblock's films are about movement, particularly the movement of people working. These films are recognized internationally for their mastery of long takes utilizing clear, simple techniques that result in high resolution and extended tonal ranges.
Movement is treated abstractly without reference to anthropological or sociological meaning.
As in the music, a surface slowness is countered by an active, varied texture of rhythm and form of body motion within the frame, the ultimate subject matter of Niblock's films. In video, Niblock turns to quite different concerns. The subjects are shown in unrelenting close-range shots while they talk about childhood. These often surprising and revealing videos present a new form of portraiture that explores aspects of biography in conjunction with the captured visual image. Phill Niblock has had grants from the Guggenheim Foundation, the New York State Council on the Arts, the National Endowment for the Arts, the Creative Artists Public Service Program, the City University of New York Research Foundation and the Foundation for the Contemporary Performance Arts.