Sounds Like Silence
Cage – 4’33” – Silence (1912 – 1952 – 2012)
25 August 2012–6 January 2013
Opening: Friday, August 24, 19h
Hartware MedienKunstVerein (HMKV) at Dortmunder U
Dortmunder U – Zentrum für Kunst und Kreativität
(Centre for Art and Creativity)
Leonie-Reygers-Terrasse
44137 Dortmund, Germany
Hours: Tue–Wed 11–18; Thu–Fri 11–20, Sat–Sun 11–18
Concept: Dieter Daniels
Curators: Inke Arns, Dieter Daniels
In 2012 the world celebrates the centenary of John Cage’s birth and the 60th anniversary of the premiere of the composer’s “silent piece” 4’33” (“four minutes, thirty-three seconds”). This composition in three movements without intentional sounds is Cage’s most prominent work today. The exhibition Sounds Like Silence, organized by Hartware MedienKunstVerein (HMKV), shows how artists continue to refer to 4’33”, whether explicitly or by addressing wider issues such as silence and sound ecology.
The exhibition focuses on current artistic and musical references to 4’33”.
Sounds Like Silence comprises works by Manon de Boer (NL/BE), John Cage (USA), Martin Creed (UK), Merce Cunningham (USA), Guy Debord (FR), Einstürzende Neubauten (DE), Pierre Huyghe (FR), Yves Klein (FR), Collective Actions (RU), Shigeko Kubota (JP/USA), Christian Marclay (USA), Bruce Nauman (USA), Max Neuhaus (USA), Nam June Paik (KR/DE), People Like Us (Vicki Bennett) (UK), Robert Rauschenberg (USA), Harald Schmidt (DE) & Helge Schneider (DE), Mladen Stilinovic (HR), Gillian Wearing (UK), and many more.
Sounds Like Silence opens on 24 August (19h) at Dortmunder U, jointly with the exhibition FLUXUS – Art for All! of the Museum Ostwall. Both exhibitions run until 6 January 2013.
Between the opening of the exhibition and the anniversary of the premiere of 4’33” on 29 August, HMKV will run a week-long programme of events with live performances and concerts (a.o. by Dave Allen), artist talks, a panel with the authors of the publication accompanying the exhibition, lectures, film screenings and field trips. The film programme includes documentaries about John Cage and others.
To mark the 60th anniversary of the premiere of the “silent piece” 4’33″ the HMKV organises a concert night around works by John Cage on 29 August. The programme starts with a live performance of Imaginary Landscapes No. 4 (1951) by 24 musicians, followed by 4’33″ in Concert, a programme of pieces by John Cage and original interpretations played by a jazz ensemble with Matthias Mainz, Simon Rummel, Angelika Sheridan, Vincent Royer and Carl Ludwig Hübsch. The evening concludes with the Williams Mix for magnetic tape (Original Version by John Cage, 1952) and the Williams Mix Extended for eight channel digital audio (2011) by Werner Dafeldecker and Valerio Tricoli.
The exhibition is accompanied by an extensive publication (Sounds Like Silence, ed. by Dieter Daniels and Inke Arns, Leipzig: Spector Books, 2012), which will be available at the venue.
As part of a series of talks and lectures, the HMKV launches this publication on 25 August (16–19) at Dortmunder U. Guests include contributors Jan Thoben (Berlin) and Julia Schröder (Berlin) as well as Jan Wenzel (Leipzig) from Spector Books. Hans-Friedrich Bormann (Nürnberg/Erlangen) will talk about John Cage’s voice, while Max Schneider will focus on acoustic ecology.
From 1 until 31 August, the HMKV presents Dave Allen’s sound art piece Silent Recording, Hansa Studios Berlin at the Loudspeaker (Lautsprecher)—a dedicated space for sound art on the 4th floor of the Dortmunder U. From 1 until 31 December, Christopher DeLaurenti’s work Favourite Intermissions: Music Before and Between Beethoven–Stravinsky–Holst will be accessible in the same space during regular exhibition opening times.
The exhibition begins in the early morning hours of 24 August with the radio programme Sounds Like Silence on Deutschlandradio Kultur (00:05–1h) curated by Inke Arns and Dieter Daniels. (CD recordings of the programme are available in the exhibition.)
Sounds Like Silence is generously supported by Kunststiftung NRW.
Main funders of HMKV
Kulturbüro Stadt Dortmund / Ministerium für Familie, Kinder, Jugend, Kultur und Sport des Landes Nordrhein-Westfalen / Sparkasse Dortmund / DSW21
The exhibition Sounds Like Silence is also supported by Mondriaan Fund, Amsterdam and Institut Français, Berlin.
Media partners
Deutschlandradio Kultur / ARTE Creative – creative.arte.tv / de:bug
Free admission information
Free admission on the first Wednesday of every month
Free admission for minors (under 18)
Admission to the film programme is free
Guided tours
Thursdays 18h (after work tour), Sundays 16h, holidays 16h
Guided tours are included in the admission fee.
Press contact: presse@hmkv.de
