ART CITIES:Seoul-SOUNDMUSEUM
Sound is a vibration that is momentarily absorbed in our body, remaining as a subtle and subjective experience and memory in the listener. Since the invention of the phonograph in the late 19th century, people began to pay attention not only to music but to sounds, such as that of machines, nature, voices, or heartbeats, and artists started creating works that obtain sound from various environment, including noise, as the material of their work in art exhibitions and public venues beyond the confines of traditional music stages.
By Efi Michalarou
Photo: D MUSEUM Archive
The exhibition “SOUNDMUSEUM”, features 22 works across multifaceted categories, from sound installation, audience-driven performance, interactive sound installation, light art to visual music by 13 internationally recognized artists and collectives and fills the entire museum with sound and multi-sensory experiences, The exhibition is organized across multiple dimensions to invite the visitors to be active performers and experience live moments delivered by the resonance of sound and emotional stimulation. From the moment the audience enters the exhibition space, they rediscover what it means to hear something and for something to be audible, and then participate in the process of making sounds. The exhibition reminds us that sound is an element that we can respond to, inspires us to imagine, and we can also create ourselves, through works such as Robin Minard’s sound installation, where subtle and clear sounds from hundreds of loudspeakers fill a space saturated with calm blue filtered light; David Helbich’s audience-led performance where the participants are invited to create unique rhythm using their hands and ears; Kristin Oppenheim’s minimalist vocal installation in which her dreamy voice awakens the memories of the listener; Lab212’s interactive sound art wherein visual and audible harmony is composed from the audience’s fingertips, and Bona Park’s multi-channel video work guiding the visitor to the new understanding of the sensibility of sound. On the second floor, the audience encounters artworks shown in Korea for the first time that present different ways of listening to image and space through acoustic storytelling. In Doron Sadja’s installations, the rhythm of noise and light is played in the site-specific spaces including an anechoic chamber as if to play variations on light, while Robert Henke’s audiovisual performance leads the audience into an infinitely changing space generated by shimmering laser lights. The exhibition also presents major works by Mary Ellen Bute, Jules Engel and Jordan Belson, some of the pioneers of visual music which became the foundation of MTV and music videos today. Finally, MONOM’s immersive “4DSOUND” installation allows the audience to traverse across different space-times. Such works direct at the intimate relationship between sound and silence, image and space, and the audience themselves while presenting us with the powerful experience of the complete physical immersion in sound. The audience is also greeted with poetic and compelling works in unexpected places including Vasku & Klug’s interactive light and sound sculpture inspired by the form of chandelier combined with fairytale-like stories.
Participating Artists: Robin Minard, David Helbich, Kristin Oppenheim, Lab212, Bona Park, Doron Sadja, Robert Henke, Mary Ellen Bute, Jules Engel, Oskar Fischinger, Jordan Belso, MONOM and Vasku & Klug.
Info: D MUSEUM, 5-6, Dokseodang-ro 29-gil, Yongsan-gu, Seoul, Duration: 19/5-27/12/20, Days & Hours: Tue-Thu & Sun 10:00-18:00, Fri-Sat 10:00-20:00, www.daelimmuseum.org
