Audio Trouble
The video collection of Neuer Berliner Kunstverein (n.b.k.)
September 13–November 9, 2014
Centre d’art contemporain La Halle des bouchers
7 rue Teste du Bailler
F-38200 Vienne
France
Hours: Wednesday–Sunday 1–6pm
T +33 (0) 4 74 54 51 37
info.cac [at] mairie-vienne.fr
Claus Blume, Anetta Mona Chişa & Lucia Tkáčová, Christoph Girardet, Ron Hays, Gary Hill, Hajnal Németh, Ingrid Oppenheim, Larissa Sansour, Richard Serra & Nancy Holt, Dmitry Vilensky
Curator: Marc Bembekoff, Director of Centre d’art contemporain La Halle des bouchers
The Centre d’art contemporain La Halle des bouchers second exhibition is organized in collaboration with the Video-Forum of Neuer Berliner Kunstverein (n.b.k.) and presents video works in Vienne from this prestigious German collection.
At one point in the video titled Boomerang (1974) by Richard Serra & Nancy Holt, the picture disappears for a few minutes, probably due to technical reasons. It is then replaced by a blue background title—”Audio Trouble”—telling the viewer that there is a problem of sound synchronization. Taking this inadequacy as a starting point, this selection of video works from the n.b.k. collection highlights how sound can have a significant impact on film and video editing, whether it is from a formal and structural point of view or as a political or social statement. If some works (Ron Hays), developing an abstract and structural shape, recall in some ways the visual symphonies conceived by the 1920s avant-garde filmmakers, others apply a strict sense of coordinated editing where an image corresponds to a sound, thus producing sampling works, sometimes ironic (Claus Blume, Christoph Girardet), poetic (Gary Hill) or critical (Dmitry Vilensky) regarding the intensification of signs present in our contemporary society. As for other artists, they question the gap generated between sound and image to reveal the irony of a political situation (Anetta Mona Chişa Lucia Tkáčová, Larissa Sansour). Finally, faced with the uninterrupted flow of noisy pictures, some works embody a strong statement of being mute (Hajnal Németh, Ingrid Oppenheim), thus generating some kind of a dysfunction, an audio trouble between sound and image.
The Centre d’art contemporain La Halle des bouchers is located in the very heart of the city of Vienne (Isère, France), in a 16th-century building used originally as meat market. Opened in March 2014, the aim and program of this contemporary art center is to offer a privileged access to contemporary art through demanding projects and exhibitions.
Video-Forum at the Neuer Berliner Kunstverein (n.b.k.)
Founded in 1971 as an artists’ initiative, the Video-Forum, with its over 1,600 works of video art, is the oldest collection of video art in Germany. The focal points of the collection are Fluxus, feminist video, the historical and contemporary situation for video art in Berlin, as well as approaches reflecting on the media. Key works by artists from the 1960s and 1970s are represented on an equal footing with contemporary productions. The Video-Forum regularly co-produces new works and organizes regular exhibitions, screenings and discussions related to video art. Visitors may view works in the collection free of charge.
This collaboration between Centre d’art contemporain La Halle des bouchers and n.b.k. has been made possible through the Jeunes commissaires program from Bureau des Arts plastiques of Institut français Deutschland. The display of this exhibition has been conceived with Crea Factory.
