Contemporary Artists are Taking Inspiration from Environments of the Circumpolar North to Create Sound Art and Music
The Arctic has its own distinct rhythms. Up here, the sounds of natural forces, animals, and humans come together to create their own kind of music鈥� soundscapes that murmur and boom, throb and hum, crack and cry, rustle and sing. Listening closely to the sounds and silences of the North opens up an intimate and resonant understanding of place.
Featuring work from artists of Alaska and other parts of the US, Russia, Canada, and Scandinavia, Listen Up provides audiences a listening experience and a survey of sound art today. Participating artists include Marja Ahti, , Aqqalu Berthelsen, , , , , , Merritt Johnson, , , , , , and . It also includes a temporary installation by and .
Ten new commissions will be debuted by internationally recognized sound artists and musicians. These sound pieces are derived from sound data gathered from across Alaska. Visitors may connect to these sounds by patching into switchboards specially designed for the exhibition, can have their own image translated into sound, and experiment with creating their own composition crafted from environmental sound. The exhibition also highlights 果冻传煤 Museum collection objects along with recordings of their sounds. Additional programming, performances, and temporary installations throughout the run of the exhibition present new works and ways of hearing the Northern landscape.
Ranging from acoustic and classical to hip-hop, ambient and electronica, these recordings will also be available in a limited-edition release by the museum鈥檚 Unbound Records.
Read about some of the artists and their work
Listen Up is presented with support from: Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts and JL Foundation.