Soundtrack for an Exhibition

Soundtrack composed by Susan Stenger with contributions by
Robert Poss, Alan Vega, Alexander Hacke, F.M. Einheit, Kim Gordon,
Mika Vainio, Bruce Gilbert, Ulrich Krieger, Warren Ellis, Jim White,
Jennifer Hoyston, Andria Degens, Spider Stacy
Paintings by John Armleder, Steven Parrino
Feature film by Kristian Levring

Soundtrack for an Exhibition is a project conceived by Mathieu Copeland that confounds our expectations of an exhibition. It comprises a specially commissioned sound score whose nature is revealed through its encounters with different environments over time. The sound piece, composed by Susan Stenger and featuring contributions from a stellar list of international musicians, employs an archetypal pop song structure ‘exploded’ in form to last 96 days. The soundtrack is audible throughout the gallery both inside and outside. During this period both a feature film and an exhibition of paintings will be shown in the gallery. It is in the confrontation of these elements with the soundtrack and with each other that the exhibition in defined, not as a singular experience but as a score evolving over time.

During this period a feature film - The King Is Alive, by Danish filmmaker and Dogme95 signatory Kristian Levring, screened not in its final, edited version, but as the entire footage shot in its making - will be shown in the gallery. Presented alongside in the gallery space will be an exhibition of paintings, including the late American painter Steven Parrino's Slow Rot works and large scale commissioned Puddle Paintings and Pour Paintings realised in situ by Swiss artist John Armleder – all unstable paintings that both evolve and decay over time. In their endlessly changing state, they reflect the time-based aspect of the soundtrack, and contribute to the generative nature of the exhibition.

The exhibition establishes a fragmentary unity through the confrontations between the ‘exploded’ soundtrack, film and paintings. This sequence of moments colliding, never stopping still and never ceasing to evolve, thus defines an ‘exploded’ exhibition.

Whilst the soundtrack lasts 96 days, the film and paintings are presented for only part of this period, thus the sound piece exists and evolves as a soundtrack for an exhibition, a film, and an empty space.

8 Mar – 11 Jun 06 [soundtrack] | 8 Mar – 14 May 06 [paintings and film] | Musée d’art Contemporain de Lyon, FR

Co-produced by Forma and the Musée Art Contemporain Lyon
An exhibition conceived by Matthieu Copeland
Photos: Frank Scwere (L) | Blaise Adilon (R)

Related links

Susan Stenger

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