Haroon Mirza, Frame for a Painting (2013), Courtesy Museum of Modern Art

As is to be expected, MoMA’s first survey into the field of sound art starts with a certain degree of theatricality: 1,500 individually micro-tuned speakers sit on the wall on the way into the exhibition space, filling the space with a sharp white hiss.  Shifting slightly with each change of position, Tristan Perich’s Microtonal Wall welcomes a lingering meditation, as viewers pace back and forth, moving their heads up and down close to the speakers or far away, the variance in intensity opening the space around it to any number of perceptual opportunities.

Richard Garet, Before Me, (2012), Courtesy the artist and Julian Navarro Projects, New York (more…)

Haroon Mirza, Pavilion for Optimisation (2013), via Lisson Gallery

In one of the pale, white rooms of Lisson Gallery’s current show of works by Haroon Mirza, a light continually goes on and off, accompanied by a bizarre whooshing noise.  The sound is that of an ant, walking across a small copper plate buried inside of an ant farm, and mixed together with the sounds of a shower head draining into a plastic bin.  At turns confusing, surreal and immersive, the viewer cannot help but linger in this minimal environment, seeking to understand the subtle links between action and reaction. (more…)

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All images via Performa 11.

London-based artists Ed Atkins, Haroon Mirza, and James Richards mounted their sizable art installation, An Echo Button, in the thick of Times Square. Claiming the massive Toshiba screens as their canvas, the artists showcased a series of video pieces that actively responded to the setting in which they were in, projecting a nonstop, multisensory experience. The commercialism and history that constantly infuse Times Square are the main subject matter in the video clips. Simultaneously, the signboards outside function as an “echo chamber,” highlighting each artist’s zeal to display sound in varying contexts while taking advantage of the multiplying powers of the Toshiba screens. The site-specific work explores the crossroads of multimedia installation on a titanic scale.

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