The 2002 Biennial Exhibition at New York’s Whitney Museum of American Art will feature ‘sound art’ and a dedicated surround listening room.
Meredith Monk’s ‘Eclipse Variations’ from Starkland’s ‘Immersion’ DVD-Audio disc will be replayed as a 4.0 presentation (the work lacks centre or LFE content) and was chosen to highlight modern ‘sound art’. ‘Eclipse Variations’ features two-note and three-note vocal chords presented in each corner of the listening room, as one fades another appears. The High Fidelity Review of this disc can be found here.
The Biennial Exhibition takes place between March 7th and May 26th 2002, and is described as “…a panorama of contemporary American art and the museum’s signature exhibition, a mirror of American culture”. It will showcase the works of 113 artists and collaborative teams.
Sound pieces will be presented in the Anne & Joel Ehrenkranz Lobby and will range from minimalist compositions such as that by Monk, to language-based narrative works and instrumental experimentations. The exhibit will include an on-site soundscape recording by Stephen Vitiello in which recorded sound from his 91st floor studio in the World Trade Center is reproduced. Also featured are Archive, a Los Angeles-based collaboration between Chris Kubick and Anne Walsh, Maryanne Amacher, experimental DJ Gregor Asch and Marina Rosenfeld.
“Previous Biennials have included sound art and performance pieces, but this year we are stepping up our commitment to these areas with a concentrated selection from around the country that will resonate closely with the works in other media,” said Debra Singer, associate curator of contemporary art. “Sound art in particular is an area that has grown exponentially over the past two years, which makes this the right moment to provide a significant place for it in the Biennial.”