Soundings: A Contemporary Score
This is MoMA's first large-scale exhibition devoted to sound art. It presents the work of 16 of the most innovative contemporary artists working with sound in a variety of disciplines such as the visual arts, architecture, performance, computer programming, and music. They all share an interest in working with the sound element in an integrative way, instead of isolating it from material realities and environments. The artistic results of such explorations oscillate between architectural intervention, visualizations of what would otherwise be inaudible sound, to experiments on how sound bounces in the specific space of a gallery, or recordings of all kinds including the echolocation mechanism of bats, abandoned buildings in Chernobyl, 59 bells in New York City, and a sugar factory in Taiwan.
The variety of works reflects a field of enormous complexity, filled with nuance. The show makes a specific statement: that the way in which we hear determine what is heard. Indeed, the works provoke and evoke—both for the artist and for the museum visitor—ways of active hearing and a marked relationship between inner and outer spaces. At a time when personal audio-reproduction devices and song playlists are tailored to each individual user in every corner of the world, spaces for the sharing of a sound "aura" are in fact scarce. Many of the artists in this exhibition seek to make that sharing a reality and the sound they create is decidedly social, intent on submerging visitors and putting them in touch with space. A large number of works establish connections between disparate topographies and themes, which provokes new experiences and an understanding of sound at a different level of knowledge.
The artists included in the show are Luke Fowler (Scotland, 1978), Toshiya Tsunoda (Japan, 1964), Marco Fusinato (Australia, 1964), Richard Garet (Uruguay, 1972), Florian Hecker (Germany, 1975), Christine Sun Kim (USA, 1980), Jacob Kirkegaard (Denmark, 1975), Haroon Mirza (Great Britain, 1977), Carsten Nicolai (Germany, 1965), Camille Norment (USA, 1970), Tristan Perich (USA, 1982), Susan Philipsz (Scotland, 1965), Sergei Tcherepnin (USA, 1981), Hong-Kai Wang (Taiwan, 1971), Jana Winderen (Norway, 1965), and Stephen Vitiello (USA, 1964).
The exhibition was organized by Barbara London, Associate Curator, alongside Leora Morinis, Assistant Curator in the Media and Stage Arts Department.
The exhibition is made possible by the contributions of MoMA's Wallis Annenberg Fund for Innovation in Contemporary Art, through the Annenberg Foundation, and the support of Jerry I. Speyer and Katherine G. Farley, The International Council of The Museum of Modern Art, The Junior Associates del Museum of Modern Art, Office for Contemporary Art Norway (OCA), Richard J. Massey Foundation for Arts and Sciences, and the Danish Arts Council Committee for International Visual Arts.
It also has the support of the MoMA Annual Exhibition Fund.
