----------empyre- soft-skinned space----------------------
hope this is an acceptable method of submission Jim –o
> At a recent conference in London, I heard David Toop suggest that curating a
> group sound art exhibition was "impossible" given the inevitable sonic
> conflict between the exhibited works. Such a claim, on its face, seems rather
> provocative. What are some strategies that curators or artists might employ
> to overcome the obvious challenges Toop is alluding to? [Note: Toop curated
> "Sonic Boom" at the Hayward Gallery]
>
As a participating artist in David Toop’s Sonic Boom i can attest that in that
case David endeavoured to do the “impossible”.
I also remember the architect for the exhibit refusing the requests of some of
the other artists to have closing doors on their solo rooms, as a way of
mediating noise bleed.
In my case i participated under the misapprehension that it was an exhibition
of visual work by artists known for sound and music — i had been avoiding sound
sculpture shows and such because i also did not want to participate in a “sonic
conflict”.
But something happened to change my tune— every day for a week i was on site
working on my exclusively visual (but musically related) contribution, and as a
result i heard the venue (the Hayward Gallery) gradually fill up with the noise
of divergent works. And as i heard more and more of this i began to enjoy the
sonic density and complexity— each day i looked forward to entering this noisy
interior neighbourhood.
Nonetheless i have not actively participated in any of these phonocopias since…
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