[-empyre-] start of week 3

[David Cecchetto]

Thanks for getting things kicked off Jim. 

In response to your question, I think perhaps the sound art exhibitions you cite demonstrate something of a bind: on one hand, sound artists—as sophisticated practitioners—tend to engage concerns well beyond the sonic per se, while on the other hand these practices are often programmed, consumed, displayed, and distributed as sound art in the most mechanistic sense, so what can be lost is what Seth Kim-Cohen beautifully described (in his book) as "the loquaciousness of multiple symbolic grids, their overlapping matrices cascading into infinity” (119). And so, I suppose I’d return your question to you by asking for examples (of which I expect there are many) of exhibitions that successfully highlight aurality without being literally tied to it; or perhaps that pressure aurality in some specific ways. Are there maybe lessons to learn there that could help us respond to Dave Dyment’s question? 

Best, 
David

On Jun 16, 2014, at 9:28 AM, Jim Drobnick <jim at displaycult.com> wrote:

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> To start the discussion today, I draw from questions raised by Dave Dyment, Lewis Kaye and myself on curating and participating in exhibitions of sound art. 
> 
> 1) For myself, I've noticed how the millennium seemed to provide a watershed moment for sound art. Within the span of five years, a number of high-profile audio art shows occurred at major art institutions, such as “Voices” (1998), “Sonic Boom” (2000), “Volume: Bed of Sound” (2000), “Frequencies” (2002) and “Sonic Process” (2002). Since then, sound shows have continued to feature huge numbers of artists. "Soundworks" at the ICA in London (2012) included over 100 artists, and "Zeigen" at the Temporare Kunsthalle Berlin (2009-10) included a whopping 566 artists. While these shows operated on the premise of inclusivity, and sampled the broad diversity of audio practices, to what degree is this curatorial strategy still useful, and what might be lost or compromised in the process?
> 
> 2) In a similar vein, Dave Dyment asks: How does the curation of Audio Art move forward, away from ghettoization in thematic group shows or token inclusion in larger projects (“we need something for this hallway”)?
> 
> […] 
> Jim
> 
>  
> 
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