UCLA - University of California - Los Angeles
08/29/2024 | Press release | Distributed by Public on 08/29/2024 12:27
UCLA presents ‘Atmosphere of Sound: Sonic Art in Times of Climate Disruption’
We regularly see and read about the toll climate change and global warming have wreaked on the environment. But can hearing the climate crisis help us better understand its effects on the physical world?
"Atmosphere of Sound: Sonic Art in Times of Climate Disruption," a seven-exhibition program presented by the UCLA Art|Sci Centerthat runs from Sept. 14, 2024, through June 7, 2025, takes the unique approach of combining sound art and science to engage audiences in deep reflection on these climate-related issues. The Art|Sci Center is one of 10 faculty-led research units within the UCLA School of the Arts and Architecture.
Part of Getty's "PST ART: Art & Science Collide," the program features immersive and interactive installations, live performances, walkthroughs, videos and lectures by 13 artists. "Atmosphere of Sound" builds on four years of research by eight artists-in-residence at the Art|Sci Center - Sholeh Asgary, Patricia Cadavid, Bill Fontana, Yolande Harris, Anna Nacher, Joel Ong, Iman Person and Robertina Šebjanič - and also includes projects by local artists Katie Grinnan, Rachel Mayeri, Christina McPhee, Amber Stucke and Nina Waisman.
"Our goal is to highlight artists and scientists who have developed long-term collaborative relationships with one another," said Art|Sci Center director Victoria Vesna, who co-curated the program with Los Angeles-based curator Anuradha Vikram. "In this exhibition, we use sound to join the disciplines of art and science and to foster a deeper understanding of our many interconnected environments and cultures."
Exhibitions
"Atmosphere of Sound" kicks off with Bill Fontana's outdoor sound sculpture "Silent Echoes: Notre-Dame and the Dachstein Glacier," which will be amplified from UCLA's Royce Hall from Sept. 14-Oct. 5. The work threads audio feeds from Notre Dame's dormantbells in Paris and the Dachstein caves in Austria, layering these soundscapes into a poetic statement on climate disruption and the fragility of human culture.
Courtesy of Bill Fontana
Bill Fontana with the Emmanuel bell at Notre Dame, the oldest of the cathedral's 10 bells.
Six other exhibitions will follow Fontana's installation, all of them presented at the UCLA Art|Sci Center gallery, located on the fifth floor of the campus's California NanoSystems Institute building:
Oct. 4-Nov. 2
Katie Grinnan's "The Sensitives" and Amber Stucke's "Talking to Plants"
Nov. 15-Dec. 14
Robertina Šebjanič's "CO_SONIC 1884 km2"
Jan. 10-Feb 1, 2025
Yolande Harris' "How You Shimmer: Sound Portal for Whale Bubbles"
Feb. 14-March 15, 2025
Iman Person's "Memory Garden" and Patricia Cadavid's "Kanchay_Yupana//" and "Electronic_Khipu"
April 4-26, 2025
Joel Ong's "In Silence…"
May 9-June 7, 2025
Sholeh Asgary's "Qanat" and "Ghatel" and Sholeh Asgary + the Ad Hoc Collective for Improvising's "Mourning Technologies for Future Griefs"
Related "Atmosphere of Sound" events on campus will be held at the EDA in the Broad Arts Center, the Sage Hill native plants and wildlife habitat, the Mildred E. Mathias Botanical Garden, Royce Hall and the Nimoy Theater, operated by UCLA's Center for the Art of Performance.
Visitors are encouraged to visit the "Atmosphere of Sound" website and download the project app to assist in navigating between venues. The app also includes detailed exhibition and program information, directions for parking and Metro, meditative soundwalks recorded by artist Anna Nacher, and access to the "Atmosphere of Sound" radio station, which will stream sonic artworks and interviews with artists and scientists.