Futurist Listening
An exhibition of artworks by Steve Parker, curated by Melanie Lenz
on display at Rich Mix, 14th December 2020 - 24th January 2021
This series of work takes the form of sonic headwear, acoustic sculptures built from brass instruments, and graphic scores, all of which build upon World War II audio tactics such as jamming signals, coded messages, and warning sirens, reimagining them in sculptural form as vehicles for present-day protest and deception. These systems are mapped out across the gallery with trumpet pipes welded into sprawling abstract lines, diagrammed and layered on paper scores. In the artwork titled Ghost Box, visitors activate the sculptural piece through touch, initiating different looped audio clips of coded songs from the Underground Railroad, coded transmissions like Morse Code, and jamming signals of Soviet Russia and Communist China. This construction, along with others seen in the video montage, chart a multitude of possible choreographies for each listener to embody their sonic components, implicating the listener’s body as a site for receiving and issuing calls to action. Engaging auditory tools associated with early twentieth century political conflict and war, Parker invites us to listen closely to the ways that sound can be used to incite resistance, disrupt systems of control, and ease anxiety and illness.
Steve Parker is an American artist and musician whose practice explores history, systems and behaviour.
Melanie Lenz is a Curator of Digital Art at the V&A Museum, London.
Steve Parker is an American artist and musician whose practice explores history, systems and behaviour.
Melanie Lenz is a Curator of Digital Art at the V&A Museum, London.
Ghost Box, 2018
Salvaged brass, tactical maps, scores on paper, wires, map pins, electronics, audio, instrument case
Salvaged brass, tactical maps, scores on paper, wires, map pins, electronics, audio, instrument case
Ghost Box, 2018
(detail) |
"As with his sound works, Parker offers a participatory tool, but leaves interpretation open to the viewer's aural or physical response. Participation is necessary to complete each work". |
ASMR Étude #1, 2018
Brass, plastic, copper |
ASMR Étude #1, 2018
(install view) |
Ghost Scores, 2018
(detail) |
Ghost Scores, 2018
Ink on paper, pins, electrical wire |
Protest Scores, 2020
Archival print on paper
Archival print on paper
ABOUT THE ARTIST
Steve Parker is an artist, musician, and curator based in Austin, TX. He is the recipient of the Rome Prize, the Ashurst Prize (UK), the Tito’s Prize, a Fulbright, and grants from the National Endowment for the Arts.
Parker works with salvaged musical instruments, amateur choirs, marching bands, urban bat colonies, flocks of grackles, and pedicab fleets to investigate how communal listening can be used to examine systems of control, interspecies behavior, and forgotten histories. His projects include elaborate civic rituals for humans, animals, and machines; listening sculptures modeled after obsolete surveillance tools; and cathartic transportation symphonies for operators of cars, pedicabs, and bicycles.
Parker has exhibited and performed at institutions, public spaces, and festivals internationally. Highlights include the Contemporary Arts Center (New Orleans), the Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art, CUE Art Foundation (NY), the Fusebox Festival, the Gene Siskel Film Center (Chicago), the Guggenheim Museum, the Lincoln Center Festival, Los Angeles Philharmonic inSIGHT, the Lucerne Festival (Switzerland), MASS MoCA, Spoleto, SXSW, and Tanglewood. As a soloist and as an artist of NYC-based "new music dream team" Ensemble Signal, he has premiered 200+ new works.
Parker works with salvaged musical instruments, amateur choirs, marching bands, urban bat colonies, flocks of grackles, and pedicab fleets to investigate how communal listening can be used to examine systems of control, interspecies behavior, and forgotten histories. His projects include elaborate civic rituals for humans, animals, and machines; listening sculptures modeled after obsolete surveillance tools; and cathartic transportation symphonies for operators of cars, pedicabs, and bicycles.
Parker has exhibited and performed at institutions, public spaces, and festivals internationally. Highlights include the Contemporary Arts Center (New Orleans), the Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art, CUE Art Foundation (NY), the Fusebox Festival, the Gene Siskel Film Center (Chicago), the Guggenheim Museum, the Lincoln Center Festival, Los Angeles Philharmonic inSIGHT, the Lucerne Festival (Switzerland), MASS MoCA, Spoleto, SXSW, and Tanglewood. As a soloist and as an artist of NYC-based "new music dream team" Ensemble Signal, he has premiered 200+ new works.
ABOUT THE CURATORS
Melanie Lenz is the curator of Digital Art at the V&A. Based in London, she previously worked at the Barbican Art Gallery and Tate Modern and has over 15 years of experience of curating, commissioning and delivering creative projects.
Specialising in digital arts and culture, Melanie co-curated Chance and Control: Art in the Age of Computers (2018-2019) and has published papers on early computer art in Latin America, gender and technology, collecting and conserving digital art. She has convened conferences on art, design and new technologies for health and has initiated art partnerships with a variety of organisations including Women Who Code and Great Ormond Street Hospital.
She is a guest lecturer at the Royal College of Art and has broadcast about digital art on Resonance FM, Radio 4 and BBC 2.
Specialising in digital arts and culture, Melanie co-curated Chance and Control: Art in the Age of Computers (2018-2019) and has published papers on early computer art in Latin America, gender and technology, collecting and conserving digital art. She has convened conferences on art, design and new technologies for health and has initiated art partnerships with a variety of organisations including Women Who Code and Great Ormond Street Hospital.
She is a guest lecturer at the Royal College of Art and has broadcast about digital art on Resonance FM, Radio 4 and BBC 2.
SEE MORE... |
See more about Steve Parker's practice in the Shortlist 2020 Uncovered videos on The Art Prize's YouTube channel. Stay tuned to learn more about Steve's exhibition Futurist Listening also coming to The Art Prize's YouTube channel soon! |