Art & Art History
Between Sound and Vision
Curated by Jeremy Boyle, Nathaniel Braddock, Dasha Dekleva, Kristina Dziedzic, Hannah Higgins, and Laila Korn with contributions from the Sound and Vision seminar at the University of Illinois at Chicago, Between Sound and Vision features an international array of artists, composers, and musicians from Indonesia, Japan, Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands, Canada, and the United States whose work emphasizes an interplay between aural and visual sensory perception. The exhibit ’s roots belong to the extended circle of composers, performance artists, visual artists, and poets associated with experimental composer John Cage. In 1969, Cage edited the seminal book Notations (Something Else Press), the first collection ever of graphic scores by over 150 artists. Differing from traditional notations that posit specific notes onto staves within measured tempos, these compositions employ visual elements to convey suggestions for musical sounds.
Since the 1970s, the hand-painted, penciled, printed, and collaged scores were tucked away in the Northwestern University Music Library, where they were rarely seen and almost never heard. Remarkable not only for their visual impact, these pieces also demonstrate the inextricable connection between seeing and hearing, and usher the viewer/listener into an interstitial space between music and visual art. The exhibition includes a selection of those original “Notations,” in addition to the recorded audio interpretations of them and the contemporary performative and interactive sculptural and installation works.
Contemporary works that exemplify Cage ’s legacy range from recent graphic notations by Philip Corner, David Dunn, Dick Higgins, and Yasunao Tone to the sculptural instruments of Jeremy Boyle, Heri Dono, Joe Jones, Alison Knowles, Minoru Sato (m/s), Charlotte Moorman, Carolee Schneemann, Dan Senn, William Stone, Trimpin, and Yoshi Wada to installations by Phill Niblock, Paul Panhuysen, Achim Wollscheid, and Brandon LaBelle. Jack Ox extends the principle of visual sound translation, and poetry by Kenneth Goldsmith in collaboration with Joan La Barbara provides an extraordinary intertextual experience. Finally, Hildegard Westerkamp ’s sound recordings of ambient noise expands on Cage ’s famous 4 ’ 33” and brings the exhibit full circle to its origin. Between Sound and Vision engages its audience in a uniquely conjoined act of listening and seeing, and creates space(s) for truly interactive experiences.
A compact disc catalogue, which includes interpretations of graphic scores never before recorded, accompanies the lectures, special concerts, website, and community outreach programs associated with this exhibition. The opening reception includes performances by Cube, Eric Andersen, Alison Knowles, Paul Panhuysen, and others.
MEDIA COVERAGE
Artner, Alan G. “A Sound exhibition that’s out of sight.” Chicago Tribune, Mar. 8, 2001, Temp Section, p. 2.
Camper, Fred. “In the Moments.” Chicago Reader, Mar. 2, 2001, Section 1, p. 22-23.
Kendrick, Monica. “Between Sound and Vision.” New Art Examiner, Sep., 2001, p. 86.
Margasak, Peter. “Post No Bills: Off the Charts.” Chicago Reader, Feb. 9, 2001, Section 3, p. 1.
EXHIBITION CHECKLIST
Eric Anderson
I HAVE CONFIDENCE IN YOU, OPUS 51, 1964
Jeremy Boyle
Digital Birds, 2001
Electronic sound circuits
Philip Corner
One Note Once, late 1990s
Computer graphic on paper, 11 x 8 1/2 in.
Heri Dono
Animal Journey (video excerpts), 1997–2000
Acrylic board and two drawings on paper, 7 1/4 x 9 3/8 in., drawings 8 1/2 x 11 in. each
David Dunn
Chreiai 1, 1996
Computer graphic on paper and text, 11 x 8 1/2 in. each
Chreiai 1, 1996
Audio recording, 14:45 min.
Kenneth Goldsmith
Poem 13, Poem 22, Poem 60 (from 73 Poems series), 1993
Lithographs, 30 x 22 in. each
Dick Higgins
1,000 Symphonies, 1990
Music paper with bullet holes, 48 x 24 in.
Joe Jones
Pull-toy (from the Longest Pull-toy in the world), 1968
Barrel slats, wood, violin strings, violin bridge, and tuning pins on wheels, with C-print of Pull-toy by Geoff Hendricks, 30 x 36 in., C-print 20 x 24 in.
Alison Knowles
Onion Skin Song: Song #1 of Three Songs, 1979
Blueprint, 120 x 36 in.
Selections from Seven Indian Moons: Dark Red Calf Moon – February, Oglala Sioux, 1980
Objects, installation, dimensions variable
Joan La Barbara
Poem 13, Poem 22, Poem 60 (from 73 Poems CD), 1993
Audio recordings, 0:42, 0:25, 0:23 min.
Charlotte Moorman
Shadow of my Cello, 1988
Plexiglas cutout, 48 x 15 1/2 in.
Max Neuhaus
Max-Feed, 1968
Electronic components in acrylic boxes
Phil Niblock
imagedissolve, 1985–2000
Computer controlled/projected images, 60:00–120:00 min. cycle
Music: Five More String Quartets
Jack Ox
Handmade score showing pitch, rhythm, and phonetic transcription into the International Phonetic Alphabet
pencil on graph paper, 19 1/2 x 13 3/4 in.
Merzbau drawing for the first theme: Fümms bö wö tää zää Uo pögiff KwiiEe, 1992
Pencil on Transpagra three-layer paper with colored pencil, 36 x 60 in.
Page of final score for Ursonate Visualization
Colored pencil and pencil on graph paper, 18 x 22 in.
Scores: computer analysis of Ernst Schwitters’s 1950 recording, 1991
Xerox, 11 3/4 x 16 1/2 in.
Ursonate Visualization, Sections 23–32 from the first movement and second theme: Fümms bö wö tää zää Uo pögiff KwiiEe, 1993
Oil paint on mylar, hand-collaged, ten sections, 12 x 48 in. each
Paul Panhuysen
5 x 400 = 2000, 2001
Long strings (steel), five tin garbage bins, and motors
Minorus Sato
emerging from the perturbation field: 2000, 2000
Florescent lamps, solar panels, acrylic case, and loudspeaker, 51 1/4 x 16 1/2 x 1 5/8 in. and 47 1/4 x 8 1/4 x 2 in. (material size)
Carolee Schneemann
Cycladic Imprints (detail), 1991–93
Motorized violin, 23 x 14 x 9 in., and panel, 70 x 12 x 2 in.
Dan Senn
Vertical ‘lyre 1, 1997
Kinetic sound sculpture (wood, wire, and electronics), 40 x 20 x 8 in.
William Stone
Dissipation, 1996
Plastic tubes, enameled funnel, steel, wood, water pump, and water, 84 x 30 x 30 in.
Yasunao Tone
Untitled, 1985
Ink on paper, 10 x 14 in.
Trimpin
Bängtschbäng, 1989–2001
Wood, metal, and electronics, 72 in. (diameter)
Yoshi Wada
Alarming Trash Can, 1990
Galvanized metal trash can, alarm bells, and siren, 25 x 22 in. (diameter)
Hildegard Westrkamp
Beneath the Forest Floor (from Transformations CD, 1996), 1992
Audio recording, 17:23 min.
Achim Wollscheid and Brandon LaBelle
piece for a listener, 2001
Five cardboard boxes with ten postcards each, installation on and off the UIC campus, 5 1/8 x 4 3/8 in.
NOTATIONS SCORES
Larry Austin
Square, 1963
One page, ink, and typing on transparent master sheet, 11 1/8 x 16 1/2 in.
George Brecht
3 Seed Events
One page, ink on paper, 3 x 5 in.
Joseph Byrd
The Defense of the American Continent from the Viet-Cong Invasion
Ink on paper, one page of instructions
George Cacioppo
Cassiopeia
One page, ink on vellum, 16 x 11 in.
John Cage
Concert for piano and orchestra
Twelve pages, ink on music paper, 17 1/8 x 11 in. each
Philip Corner
Mississippi River South of Memphis, 1954
Map with ink-on-tissue overlay, with three acetate overlays and sheet of directions, 28 x 7 1/4 in.
Malcolm Goldstein
Page 9 from Illuminations from Fantastic Gardens
Two pages, ink on paper, 11 x 8 1/8 in. each
Al Hansen
Car Bibbe
Three pages, ink on paper, 8 3/8 x 14 in.
Dick Higgins
Graphis #21 (from Act 3 of St. Joan at Beaurevoir)
One page, colored inks on graph paper, 15 1/4 x 14 1/2 in.
Toshi Ichiyangi
The Field, 1966
Two pages, embossed paper, with instruction card, 17 1/2 x 12 3/8 in. each
Charles Ives
One page, blank song paper signed by Ives, 10 1/2 x 13 5/8 in.
Allan Kaprow
Self-Service, 1966
Four pages, colored inks on yellow ruled paper collaged onto cardboard, with printed directions, 17 3/8 x 17 3/4 in. each
Alison Knowles
Blue Ram, 1967
Six pages, six silkscreen prints on cardboard, 18 7/8 x 28 3/8 in. overall
György Ligeti
From Volumina, 1961
One page, pencil on paper, 16 1/4 x 11 5/8 in.
Otto Luening
Rorschach Symphonic Sonata
Four pages, folded, pencil, ink and red crayon on paper, 12 3/4 x 18 3/8 in. each
Tomás Marco
Sü, 1965
One page, ink on paper, 7 1/4 x 9 1/4 in.
Walter Mays
Sketch for sound block one from Music of Mountains, 1967
One page, ink on paper, 12 x 9 in.
Yoko Ono
9 Concert Pieces for John Cage
Fourteen pages, ink on paper (out of fifteen pieces, John Cage was asked to choose the nine he liked best), 8 x 10 in.
Nam June Paik
Danger Musik for Dick Higgins
One page, ink on mended tissue, 8 1/4 x 11 3/8 in.
Steve Reich
Piano Phase
One page, ink on vellum, 10 7/8 x 13 3/8 in.
Jerome Rothenberg
Garbage Event
One page, typing on paper, 8 1/2 x 11 in.
James Tenney
String Complement, 1964
One page, ink on graph paper, with instructions
David Tudor
From Solo for Piano (Cage) for Indeterminacy, 1958
Nineteen pages, notebook, pencil on paper, 8 1/4 x 6 1/8 in. closed
Wolf Vostell
TV-Décollage-Ereignisse für Millionen, 1959
One page, collage, fluorescent, black and colored ink on paper, 25 1/4 x 19 1/8 in.
Yannis Xenakis
Stochastic Music
Nine pages, typewriter, computer type on accordion-folded paper (programs of instructions for IBM 7094), 15 3/8 x 11 in. each
La Monte Young
From Vertical Hearing or Hearing in the Present Tense, 1967
Six pages, ink on paper (with undated letter used as cover, and errata sheet), 11 x 13 3/4 in. each
OPENING FESTIVAL PERFORMANCES:
Eric Anderson with UIC students
OPUS 2001
Jeremy Boyle, Nathaniel Braddock, Jerome Bryerton, Guillermo Gregorio, Brent Gutzeit, Fred Lonberg-Holm, Todd Margasak, and Scott Rosenberg
Audience-directed composition-improvisation performance
CUBE: Janice Misurell Mitchell (flute, voice), Patricia Morehead (oboe, English horn), John Johnson (percussion), Philip Morehead (synthesizer)
Selected scores from Notations
Alison Knowles with Jeremy Boyle and Ron Fong
Onion Skin Song
Paul Panhuysen
Long string performance
EXHIBITION SUPPORT
Between Sound and Vision is supported by the College of Architecture and the Arts, the University of Illinois at Chicago; a grant from the Illinois Arts Council, a state agency; the UIC Graduate Student Council; Hermann Braun; the John W. and Clara C. Higgins Foundation; Laurie and Alan Reinstein; and the Gilbert and Lila Silverman Collection.
Curated by Hannah Higgins, Dasha Dekleva, Kristina Dziedzic, Jeremy Boyle, Laila Korn, and Nathaniel Braddock
Between Sound and Vision
Gallery 400
Chicago, IL
February 15–March 10, 2001
Opening Reception: Thursday, February 15, 2001, 5–8 pm
Gallery 400 at the University of Illinois at Chicago presents Between Sound and Vision, a multi-sensory exhibition of graphic notations, sculptural instruments, and sound installations. The opening reception is Thursday, February 15 from 5 to 8pm and includes performances by Cube, Eric Andersen, Alison Knowles, and Paul Panhuysen. Gallery 400 is located at 400 South Peoria Street.
Between Sound and Vision features an international array of artists, composers, and musicians from Indonesia, Japan, Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands, Canada, and the United States whose work emphasizes an interplay between aural and visual sensory perception. The exhibit ’s roots belong to the extended circle of composers, performance artists, visual artists, and poets associated with experimental composer John Cage. In 1969, Cage edited the seminal book Notations (Something Else Press), the first collection ever of graphic scores by over 150 artists. Different from traditional notations that posit specific notes onto staves within measured tempos, these compositions employ visual elements to convey suggestions for musical sounds.
Since the 1970s, the hand-painted, penciled, printed, and collaged scores have been tucked away in the Northwestern University Music Library where they are rarely seen and almost never heard. Remarkable for their visual impact alone, these pieces also demonstrate the inextricable connection between seeing and hearing, and usher the viewer/listener into an interstitial space between music and visual art.
Contemporary works that exemplify Cage ’s legacy range from recent graphic notations by Philip Corner, David Dunn, Dick Higgins, and Yasunao Tone to the sculptural instruments of Jeremy Boyle, Heri Dono, Joe Jones, Alison Knowles, Minoru Sato (m/s), Charlotte Moorman, Carolee Schneemann, Dan Senn, William Stone, Trimpin, and Yoshi Wada to installations by Phill Niblock, Paul Panhuysen, Achim Wollscheid, and Brandon LaBelle. Jack Ox extends the principle of visual sound translation and poetry by Kenneth Goldsmith in collaboration with Joan La Barbara provides an extraordinary intertextual experience. Finally, Hildegard Westerkamp ’s sound recordings of ambient noise expand on Cage ’s famous 4 ’ 33” and bring the exhibit full circle to its origin.
A compact disc catalogue, which includes interpretations of graphic scores never before recorded, accompanies the lectures, special concerts, website, and community outreach programs associated with this exhibition. Between Sound and Vision engages its audience in a uniquely conjoined act of listening and seeing, and creates space(s) for truly interactive experiences.
PRINT COLLATERAL
Postcard: Between Sound and Vision – Opening Reception
Between Sound and Vision
Catalogue introduction by Lorelei Stewart and essays by
Hannah Higgins, Kristina Dzeidzic, and Dasha Dekleva.
Gallery 400, School of Art and Design,
University of Illinois at Chicago, 2001
28 pp., 8.5 x 5.5 in., with black and white reproductions
and a 15 track audio CD
This catalogue can be purchased for $15.00 plus shipping by calling Gallery 400 at 312-996-6114.