thanks for kicking this off beryl . . .
in response to your question, "does mixing the media help to mix the
audience, or does it lead to mutual incomprehension?" from my perspective,
(and thankfully) it does both. while not adverse to shows that focus
primarily on sound, i am an avid believer of mixing things up. without
question it will lead to mutual incomprehension at times, but not without
first mixing the audience which i believe can only be a positive progressive
step. and at the end of the day, a bit of miscomprehension will do far more
to interject sound into the landscape of contemporary art than silence any
day.
speaking from a musicological perspective, by consistently introducing the
medium of sound within the context of a museum that displays all mediums and
within specific shows that highlight a variety of disciplines, an
institution such as sfmoma is able to not only reach an audience who already
has knowledge and an interest in this field but also the larger general
museum public, many of whom may not be aware of the history and importance
of the medium.
i'm speaking here more about the type of viewer who probably won't happen
upon a sound event or installation at loft/warehouse/ alternative space
where this work is more common. it really functions like a domino effect.
sound when placed within the context of the museum is automatically afforded
a certain deserved validity to an audience that might not necessarily be
aware of it otherwise. it generates interest which in turn, generates more
support from the public for more sound programming and installations. . .
which generates more interest from the public . . . more sound programming
and so on and so on.
and then there is the support, dialogue and brainstorming sessions from the
fantastic sound artists/producers in the san francisco community that has
emerged as a result of our forays. yet another spice in the mix that in turn
makes our program stronger. so you see we have all of this dialogue being
generated, and comprehensible or not, it is the conversation and process
that ultimately will lead to the validation and improved visibility of this
work.
speaking of shows that focus primarily on sound . . . has anyone in the
group seen/heard the current frequenzen show in frankfurt? i'd be interested
to hear some feedback on that.
kathleen
-----Original Message-----
From: [log in to unmask]
[mailto:[log in to unmask]]
Sent: Monday, March 11, 2002 10:43 AM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: Sound Art: March Theme of the Month
Dear List,
I'd like to help this month's theme along by asking this month's
guests, (and others), their opinions on whether sound art does best
in sound-art-specific events or in mixed shows.
Something I noticed about the press coverage of the show "010101" at SFMOMA
was that sound magazines and journals tended to review only the sound
art in the exhibition, and that the visual art magazines didn't say
much about the primarily audio works. There was, however, a little
crossover, and evidence that reviewers were starting to think about
media that they would not have otherwise considered.
Does mixing the media help to mix the audience, or does it lead to
mutual incomprehension?
I look forward to hearing of your experiences,
yours,
Beryl
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