Contemporary Projects at the de Young 2018

The Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco present new work commissions by Anthony Discenza with Skywalker Sound, Ranu Mukherjee, and Cosima von Bonin for its public spaces in and around the de Young museum.

The Companions: Sounds for a Lost Screenplay
Anthony Discenza with Gary Rydstrom and Josh Gold of Skywalker Sound
On view until September 4, 2018

The first project commissioned for the de Young’s iconic observation tower, The Companions: Sounds for a Lost Screenplay is a cinematic audio environment created by artist Anthony Discenza in collaboration with sound designers Gary Rydstrom and Josh Gold. Discenza, an artist who often works with imagined or withheld narratives, approached the Skywalker Sound designers with research around the troubled history of The Companions, an unrealized screenplay from the 1980s, for use as the basis of a site-specific sound composition. Combining aspects of at least a half-dozen different genres, from hard-boiled noir to science fiction to psychological thriller, The Companions suggested a vast playground of sonic possibilities.

By shifting the vocabulary of sound design away from the audiovisual space of film, Rydstrom, Gold, and Discenza have created an immersive experience that explores the ways in which sound shapes vision, and tests the possibilities for creating a film without images. Juxtaposed with the Hamon Tower’s 360-degree vistas, the work transforms the views into framing devices for an imagined cinematic space, imbuing the surrounding park, city, and iconic landmarks with narrative possibilities.

#TowerSounds

Ranu Mukherjee: A Bright Stage
July 14, 2018–January 20, 2019

For the third Wilsey Court commission, Ranu Mukherjee has conceived an enveloping environment that combines printed linen, embroidered silk, paint and animation. Entitled A Bright Stage, the installation metaphorically transforms the atrium into a grove of banyan trees—a type of fig native to India which is sacred to people of diverse faiths as a symbol of fertility, life and resurrection. The canopies of mature banyans often reach such significant scales that they come to define natural meeting places that were at the core of social, commercial and political action. As a frequent site of public executions during British rule, the banyan tree is also a symbol of India’s fight against colonial power and was declared its national tree upon its declaration of Independence in 1947.

Taking its cue from the history and architecture of the de Young, A Bright Stage reflects on the cultural and spatial perspectives of the museum. With the adjective “bright” describing qualities both visual and auditory, it amplifies the atrium’s qualities and potentialities as a freely accessible place for public voice and action. “It feels like history is cracking open right now and I’m thinking a lot about the amplification of public voices carrying histories of colonialism and feminism,” says Mukherjee. ”This historically and geographically wide-ranging collection [at the de Young] with its colonial, 19th century roots is informing the trajectory of my work. It has the potential to talk back and slowly turn cultural perspective inside out.”

Media Image Gallery A Bright Stage

#ABrightStage

Cosima von Bonin: For Lazy Lobsters
Opening October 2018

Artscapes is a new series of playful installations designed by artists for the front lawn of the de Young, in the middle of Golden Gate Park. Each project will invite visitors and passersby of all ages to explore a free, open-air art experience.

The inaugural project For Lazy Lobsters by German artist Cosima von Bonin revolves around a 30-foot boat, equipped with a slide and swing, set amid a sandbox as if having run aground on the ocean floor or on a nearby beach. Surrounded by sea creatures, traces of human consumption and strewn about life vests, it features one of von Bonin’s signature figures, “the idler” perched on top of the boat. The Pinocchio-esque figure “leisurely watches over the disobedient play and social interaction among the lobstersr,” says von Bonin. “The installation is an ode to the idler and explores our longing for lazy days.”

Celebrated for her multilayered and mutable practice, von Bonin uses a wide range of media, including textiles, film, music, objects, and performance, to create environments that reference pop and high culture. She takes on themes of social relations and appropriation, while incorporating aspects of humor, sarcasm, and irony in her work. For Lazy Lobsters is her first presentation on the US West Coast in more than a decade.

Media Image Gallery For Lazy Lobsters

#ForLazyLobsters

Other upcoming highlights of the Contemporary Art Program at the de Young this fall include new commissions by Ana Prvacki and Anna Halprin.

About the Contemporary Arts Program
Contemporary Projects at the de Young are curated by Claudia Schmuckli, Curator-in-Charge of Contemporary Art and Programming and Elizabeth Thomas, Director of Public Engagement. The projects are part of the institution’s Contemporary Arts Program, which creates dialogues between living artists and the unique buildings and locations of the de Young and Legion of Honor, and works in the encyclopedic collection, revealing new meanings and juxtapositions across decades and genres.

The Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco’s Contemporary Arts Program is made possible by the Contemporary Support Council of the Fine Arts Museums. Customized sound solution for The Companions developed through a partnership with Meyer Sound. The project is produced in collaboration with Skywalker Sound, with additional support from DTS. 

Visitor information
Hours: Tuesday–Sunday 9:30am–5:15pm
Visit de Young for more information.

About the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco 
The Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco oversee the de Young, located in Golden Gate Park, and the Legion of Honor in Lincoln Park. It is the largest public arts institution in San Francisco, and one of the most visited arts institutions in the United States. Reflecting a conversation among cultures, perspectives, and time periods, the collections at the de Young include American painting, sculpture, and decorative arts; art from Africa, Oceania, and the Americas; costume and textile arts; and modern and contemporary art.

Media contacts
Helena Nordstrom, International Communications Manager, hnordstrom@famsf.org / T 415 750 7608
Miriam Newcomer, Director of Communications, mnewcomer@famsf.org / T 415 750 3554