Richard Garet, Guitar Heroes, 2010. Sound installation, dimensions variable. Courtesy of the artist and Julian Navarro Projects, NY. Photo: Peter Mauney

Soundings: a Contemporary Score. Sound art exibition at MOMA

MoMA’s first major exhibition of sound art presents work by 16 of the most innovative contemporary artists working with sound. While these artists approach sound from a variety of disciplinary angles – the visual arts, architecture, performance, computer programming, and music.

Camille Norment, Triplight, 2008. Microphone cage, stand, light, electronics, dimensions variable. Courtesy of the artist

These artistic responses range from architectural interventions, to visualizations of otherwise inaudible sound, to an exploration of how sound ricochets within a gallery, to a range of field recordings, including echolocating bats, abandoned buildings in Chernobyl, 59 bells in New York City, and a sugar factory in Taiwan.

Sergei Tcherepnin, Motor Matter Bench, 2013. Wooden subway bench, transducers, amplifier, HD media player. Image courtesy of Murray Guy, New York

The diversity of these works reflects a complex and nuanced field. Yet the exhibition posits something specific: that how we listen determines what we hear. Indeed, the works provoke and evoke, both in the maker and the museumgoer, modes of active listening, and a heightened relationship between interior and exterior space. At a time when personal listening devices and tailored playlists have become ubiquitous, shared aural spaces are increasingly rare.

Marco Fusinato, Spectral Arrows (Sydney), 2013. Excerpt from LP (Planam Records, Italy), 4 min. Courtesy of the artist

Many of the artists in the exhibition aim for such realities, and the sound they create is decidedly social, immersing visitors and connecting them in space. In many of the works, links are drawn between disparate topographies and subjects, giving rise to new understanding and experiences.

Soundings: a Contemporary Score
MOMA
August 10 – November 3, 2013

more. http://www.moma.org/