Inner Ear Vision: Sound as Medium

Bemis Center for Contemporary Arts is pleased to present Inner Ear Vision: Sound as Medium. Opening July 11, the exhibition explores sound as an artistic medium beyond the aural and assembles works by 18 multidisciplinary artists providing a variation on the theme. A reference to the multi-sensory nature of the ear—which affects not only our sense of sound but also those of vision, space, and even cognition—the work in Inner Ear Vision challenges the limits by which both “music” and “sound art” have been defined. Inner Ear Vision proposes that the conversation around the notion of ephemeral versus tangible need not be a conversation at all.

The exhibition includes variations of “musical instruments” by Tarek Atoui, Nadia Botello, Benvenuto Chavajay, and Chris Duncan; graphic scores by Lea Bertucci, Tyondai Braxton, and Jean-Paul Perrotte; objects by Kevin Cooley and Phillip Andrew Lewis, Jessica Ekomane, and Nikita Gale; and immersive installations by Suzanne Kite and Devin Ronneberg, Sabrina Ratté, Wadada Leo Smith with Josie Holtzman and Nick Michael, and C. Spencer Yeh. 

A series of free public programs will take place throughout the duration of the exhibition. A three-part lecture series of humanities scholars focused on sound, supported in part by Humanities Nebraska, will begin with cultural critic Karen Tongson on August 8, followed by journalist and critic Geeta Dayal on August 22 and composer and historian Nicolas Collins on September 6. Collins will also lead Handmade Electronic Music, a two-hour workshop on hardware hacking on September 7, open to all ages. Exhibiting artist Chris Duncan will perform on August 29. 

Curated by artists Raven Chacon and Robert Aiki Aubrey Lowe and art historian Maria Elena Buszek, the exhibition is part of the events surrounding the inauguration of Bemis Center for Contemporary Arts’s Sound Art + Experimental Music Program. Embedded within Bemis Center’s renowned international Residency Program, this initiative offers a unique experience for artists working in sound, composition, voice, and music of all genres. National and international artists participating in the program will receive financial, technical, and administrative support, along with dedicated facilities for rehearsing, recording, and performing new works that expand the field of sound art and music. The program includes a performance venue, opening in October 2019, that will offer free live shows for the public to experience the latest innovations by local, national and international sound artists and experimental musicians.

Bemis Center for Contemporary Arts invites the public to the opening and reception of Inner Ear Vision: Sound as Medium on Thursday, July 11 from 6 to 8pm at Bemis Center at 724 South 12th Street. The free event will include a performance by exhibiting artist Benvenuto Chavajay beginning at 7pm. Exhibition curators Maria Elena Buszek, Raven Chacon, and Robert Aiki Aubrey Lowe will be in attendance. 

For more information about the exhibition visit bemiscenter.org/innerearvision. Admission is free.

Inner Ear Vision: Sound as Medium is sponsored, in part, by Mutual of Omaha, Omaha Steaks, and Security National Bank. Special thanks to Nebraska Arts Council. The Speaking Sound program series is supported, in part, by Humanities Nebraska and the Nebraska Cultural Endowment. Additional support provided by Jamie and Ted Friedland.