This article speaks on an important exhibition that occurred in Berlin during the 1980s. The exhibition Fur Augen und Ohren took place in Berlin in 1980 and is referred to as one of the main events that gave rise to what became known as sound art in the second half of the twentieth century.
It’s stated clearly that the works for the exhibition were chosen on the premise that they incorporated aural and visual elements simultaneously alongside an emphasis on technological progress. This relates back to the last article that I read and reflected on. Art and technology seem to fuel each other, And art is sometimes what pushes technology to work for an idea that an artist may have.
The article spoke on how work is perceived in a gallery and how this specific curated even changed or attempted to deconstruct what it meant to engage with art in a so-called white cube. “Sealed windows, artificial illumination and walls painted white create a clean and artificial environment in which the artworks are not subject to time and space and are kept disconnected from the world outside of it.” A thought I haven’t thought about before but I do agree with, how does a piece of work in an isolated room give it context to itself. when taken out of its place and is displayed away from what it is meant to be surrounded by does the meaning change? How does the work situate itself within space and time if the space it’s representing isn’t in the gallery? As well as this how does it use the space it’s in to create that sort of dialogue. It seems perhaps I had thought of this before not intentionally but just with my experience with these spaces. I felt like I couldn’t feel represented in these spaces. it’s like, how do you take what is usually not accepted by a higher upper-class population that try to control and dictate the less, and then put us in a room where people that consume our art and are amongst us can’t access or are used to being in there? do you reclaim it? that’s what I think, take it for yourself and bring the time and space into the gallery.
This gallery also brought the subject that ouch is important. Sight and hearing only allow us a certain level of understanding in our environment. Sound means we hear it and sight confirm what we hear. Touch enhances that even more.
I also liked the paragraph on the relationship between curating and exhibiting and I feel it’s just as important as the artists, in curation. there are decisions to be made that affect everything.
I’ll end by stating that this article reminded me of the Basanta article about the ideas and theories of sound installations. This enhances a little differently as it touches on what a white space can do, as well as not just being a visual experience but enhancing that to be audiovisual and touch.