Aura set, dial tone drone (2014). See sound at KADIST San Francisco. Seeing Sound is curated by Barbara London and produced by Independent Curators International (ICI). Photo: Jeff Warrin
KADIST, an art organization founded in Paris that promotes interdisciplinary work, is exhibiting in its gallery 20th Street Seeing Sound, a mixture of sound and video art. Curated by Barbara London, a sound art advocate since the 1970s, the show debuts in San Francisco before traveling internationally. Three different modes of contemporary sound art are presented in three rooms.
The dial tone drone by the London artist Aura Satz from 2014 is shown in the front room. The piece is so mundane that it could easily be overlooked: two armchairs positioned on either side of a phone stand. Visitors are invited to take a seat and pick up the rotary phone that is playing a recorded conversation between the innovators of electronic music Pauline Oliveros (1932-2016) and Laurie Spiegel (* 1945). The chat can also be accessed from any device by dialing 833-764-1221.
In the recording, Oliveros and Spiegel discuss sound and art over the incessant roar of a dial tone. Their conversation is a kind of introduction to the rest of the exhibition and offers the viewer concepts and language around sound-based art. “Our body is a form of mediation,” says one of the discussants, referring to the effect of sound on the mind, a statement that serves as the thesis of the exhibition. The portability of the piece questions the influence of the place on the experience of art. How could interpretations change if you listen to the recording while walking on the beach instead of sitting in the gallery?
The second room contains Music Stands, 2019 by New York composer Marina Rosenfeld, an ensemble of sculptural music stands, acoustic panels and microphones. Cables snake across the gallery floor from the microphones to a mixer. A laptop connected to the board is equipped with software that picks up clippings of clay in random order, mixes them and spits them out again. Navigating through the installation and listening to your own movements and words is a sonar-like experience. The interaction with the piece creates an increased self-perception of the observer’s own body, as his presence in the room is reinforced by the loudspeakers.
Muted Situation # 2: Muted Lion Dance, 2014, a seven and a half minute video by Hong Kong-based artist Samson Young, can be seen in the gallery’s projection room. The film shows a group of dancers performing the traditional Chinese lion dance, which is usually performed during New Years celebrations and weddings. The backdrop is a black box theater with the emphasis on the costumed performers. The conventional percussive accompaniment is noticeably missing and is replaced by a recording of the rhythmic steps of the dancers and the heavy breathing from their lion costumes. The soundtrack of the dancers’ exertions gives the piece a visceral quality and makes the audience hypersensitive to their own indolence as they watch the work.
Each of the pieces was based on a collaboration when it was created, with the viewer becoming a part of that relationship. The staging of the exhibits promotes dynamic engagement – sitting, walking – while each work orchestrates movements with sounds and directs the visitors’ awareness to their own bodies.
Seeing Sound runs through July 24th at KADIST San Francisco, 3295 20th Street.
