Issue #112: "Noise/Silence"

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Issue #112 of Texte zur Kunst, “Noise/Silence,” focuses on these two sonic extremes that define the boundaries of the audible, framing all possible sonic expressions therein. Given the emergence of sound as its own field of inquiry within the arts, and the development of newer media forms for sound production, can we still reliably argue that noise and silence are open to artists and musicians today in the ways that they were for Luigi Russolo in his 1913 manifesto, “The Art of Noises;” or, in John Cage’s writings on silence? In our analysis and judgment on the contemporary significance of noise and silence within sound and music, we are also questioning the potential for radical gestures with sound tout court—the all or nothing. What is left for music and sonic interventions today? What kinds of subversive noises can be marshaled against the deafening silence? And where, if anywhere, can silence provide a shelter from the relentless noise from the outside? We assembled a group of media historians and philosophers to give us a theoretical orientation in this shifting sonic landscape, and also asked four artists/musicians to weigh in on the possibility for radical gestures in their own practice. The results offer a much-needed revision of the terms for sound in the arts today.  

Main section (in English and German):

Rolf Grossman
Silence, Sound, Noise: Aesthetic and Media-Technological Observations

Ute Holl
Excavating Silence

Fiona McGovern
Curating Sound

Colin Lang and Cevdet Erek in Conversation

Michaela Melián
Electric Ladyland

Andrea Neumann
Production by Subtraction

Arto Lindsay
Puce Moment

Image Spread:

Jonathan Penca

New Development:

Politcal Myth - Prefiguration - Brexit
Angus Nicholls on the Mythic Structures behind Brexit

Rotation

André Rottmann on Kerstin Stakemeier's book Entgrenzter Formalismus

Nanna Heidenreich on Brigitta Kuster's book Grenze Filmen

Amanda Schmitt on Ben Lerner and Anna Ostoya`s book The Polish Rider

Klang Körper

Steven Warwick on Catherine Christer Hennix

Reviews (English/German):

Nicolás Guagnini on Jack Smith at Artist’s Space (New York)

Fabio Cypriano on the São Paulo Biennale

Sven Lütticken on Dora García at the Reina Sofía (Madrid)

Pedro de Llano on Stephan Dillemuth at A Certain Lack of Coherence (Porto)

Inka Meißner on Enzo Camacho & Amy Lien at Kunstverein Freiburg

Colin Lang on Katharina Sieverding at Manifesta 12 (Palermo)

Alida Müschen on Ei Arakawa at Kunstverein für die Rheinlande und Westfalen (Düsseldorf)

Julia Pelta Feldman on Charline von Heyl at Petzel Gallery (NY)

Georg Imdahl on Balthus at Fondation Beyeler (Basel)

Christina Catherine Martinez on Gerry Bibby at O-Town House (Los Angeles)

Jakob Schillinger on Loretta Fahrenholz at mumok (Vienna)  

Rattanamol Singh Johal on Vivan Sundaram at the Kiran Nadar Museum of Art (Delhi) and Haus der Kunst (Munich)

Frauke Zabel on Karin Schneider at Kunstverein Nürnberg

Ana Vogelfang on Pablo Accinelli at MALBA Museum (Buenos Aires)

Karel Císař on 1968:computer:art  (Brno)

Melissa Gordon on Amy Sillman at Camden Arts Centre (London)

Michaela Wünsch on Theresa Hak Kyung Cha at the Cultural Centre of the Korean Embassy (Berlin)

Ana Teixeira Pinto on Roee Rosen at the Centre Pompidou (Paris)

Anke Dyes on Henrik Olesen at Schinkel Pavillon (Berlin)

Obituaries

Helena Almeida (1934-2018) in the words of João Ribas

Klaus Herding (1939-2018) in the words of Tom Holert

Plus artists' editions by:

Jeanette Mundt

Dominique Gonzalez-Foerster

Wolfgang Tillmans

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