Tag Archive - Installations

The Invisible Concerts of Everyday Life

How aware are we of sound as we move through the course of our day? Which sounds do we register and which do we ignore? Do we even give the subject much thought?

“Quintetto” by the Italian artist collective Quiet Ensemble is an intriguing blend of music, sound and installation art.

The piece is composed of five vertical aquariums, each containing a goldfish (hence the name “Quintet”). The movements of each fish are captured on video camera. Computer software then converts these movements into digital sounds. The live composition is always changing based on the movements of the fish. Like many of John Cage’s compositions, “Quintetto” relies heavily on the element of chance, chance contained within a specific, controlled environment. The piece is never the same twice because the movements of the five fish will always vary.

The Quiet Ensemble

 

 

 

 

Goldfish Orchestra

 

 


 
According to Quiet Ensemble, the idea behind “Quintetto” is to capture and reveal the “invisible concerts of everyday life.”
 In other words, to transform the commonplace sound of fish moving inside an aquarium into an unexpected live event. Technology is a tool to amplify natural movements and noises we might otherwise take for granted.

These videos of “Quintetto” are mesmerizing to watch. The first video is a short version of the piece, and it is quite different from the long version, which is much darker in tone. It’s worth watching both to get a sense of how variable performances of “Quintetto” can be. The music is by Fabio Sestili with electronics by the Pixel Orchestra. The piece was produced by Quiet Ensemble and Aesop Studio. (If you’re reading this article via email, click here to watch the footage).
 

Quintetto promo from Quiet ensemble on Vimeo.


 

Quintetto from Quiet ensemble on Vimeo.


 
Thanks to Christopher Jobson over at Colossal for turning me onto Quiet Ensemble’s work. To explore other projects by the Italian artist collective, you can visit the Quiet Ensemble website.

Would you like to read more articles like this one? Subscribe to Gwarlingo by email or RSS feed. (It’s easy, safe, and free, and it assures you won’t miss a thing). You can also follow me on Twitter and Facebook or share a “like” on the Gwarlingo Facebook page.

If you enjoyed this post, please spread the word about Gwarlingo by sharing this article on Facebook, Twitter, Google Plus, etc.

Looking for an interesting book for yourself or your students? Check out the new Gwarlingo Store–a hand-picked selection of some of my favorite books on art, music, ideas, the creative process, and more. All of your purchases directly support Gwarlingo.

(Note: All images and video courtesy of Quiet Ensemble)


Olafur Eliasson: Your Blind Passenger

Olafur Eliasson's "Your Blind Passenger" (Courtesy Photo)

Olafur Eliasson, the Danish artist who brought the sun to Tate Modern’s Turbine Hall and created man-made waterfalls in New York City, has a new project at the ARKEN Museum of Modern Art in Copenhagen.

Eliasson’s installation Din blinde passager (Your blind passenger) is a 295-foot-long tunnel filled with dense fog. Because of the tunnel’s limited visibility, visitors passing through the tunnel must use senses other than sight to orient themselves.

Din blinde passager is the sort of quality, experiential artwork that is attracting larger crowds to contemporary art museums and galleries in recent years. The worst examples of this type of installation art are a bit like a ride at Disney World–they give us a short-lived thrill, can be gimmicky, and lack resonance. But thoughtful works like Eliasson’s offer a deeper museum experience and allow us to engage in the world in an original way. I love the fact that Eliasson’s exhibit disorients museum-goers and invites them to pay close attention to subtle environmental changes like sound or the slow shift of light.

Your blind passenger uses many types of white light–bright daylight, a golden sunrise, chilly blues, deep twilight. Normally, these changes in our environment are so slow and commonplace that we hardly notice them, but Eliasson’s piece condenses an entire day down to a singular, intense experience. With the distractions of our surroundings eliminated, with limited visibility in a contained space, we notice light in a way we never have before. Eliasson’s piece is a reminder that we are enveloped by changing light (both natural and unnatural) on a continual basis, but few of us detect it as we go about our daily lives.

Arken Museum

"Eliasson's exhibit disorients museum-goers and invites them to pay close attention to subtle environmental changes like sound or the slow shift of light." (Courtesy photo)

Eliasson’s exhibition is the final instalment in ARKEN’s three-year UTOPIA series, which examines the role of utopia in contemporary art and culture. “For me, utopia is linked to the now, the moment between one second and the next,” Eliasson explained in an interview. “It constitutes a possibility that is actualised and converted into reality, an opening where concepts like subject and object, inside and outside, proximity and distance are tossed into the air and redefined. Our sense of orientation is challenged and the coordinates of our spaces, collective and personal, have to be renegotiated. Changeability and mobility are at the core of utopia.”

Christian Gether, director of ARKEN, believes that Eliasson is unique in how he engages with gallery spaces. “Eliasson is extremely interesting because he takes a new view of the institution of the museum,” she says. “He does not see the museum as separate from the world but as a concentrate of the world – a space made available for the contemplation of human relations. Hence, he is the ideal artist to conclude the UTOPIA project.”

Olafur Eliasson’s Your blind passenger is open through November 2, 2011. Luckily, for those of us who can’t make it to Copenhagen, there are two excellent videos of the piece available here. The first video was produced by the Tate and includes an interview with Eliasson, as well as footage of his installation. The second video is from Eliasson’s own website. Because the second video contains no voiceovers or cuts, it gives a better sense of what it is like to walk through the 295-foot-long tunnel in silence. (If you’re reading this article in an email, click here to watch the videos).

 

 

 

Din blinde passager – Arken museum from Studio Olafur Eliasson on Vimeo.

 
To leave a comment or share this story on Facebook, Twitter, etc., click here. Don’t forget to check out the Gwarlingo home page, which is updated regularly. Right now, you can preview music by Mountain Man, see the latest Gwarlingo recommendations and reader comments, plus view Gwarlingo’s “Photo of the Week.”

Also, for those of you following the fundraising campaign of filmmakers Micah Garen and Marie-Hélène Carleton, there’s only one week left. They’ve raised over 50% of the funds they need. You can see an update on the campaign on the Gwarlingo home page.

If you like Gwarlingo, I hope you’ll consider subscribing by email. (It’s easy, safe, and free, and you won’t have to remember to keep checking the website). You can also follow me on Twitter and Facebook or share a “like” on the Gwarlingo Facebook page.