Exhibition and Curation Research

I picked both of these pieces as research points because I have seen both of them, and they both utilise music, sounds, lighting and imagery to create an ambience/atmosphere. I saw Kentrdidge’s ‘The Refusal of Time’ earlier on in the year at the Whitworth in Manchester, and I saw Wallinger’s ‘Threshold to the Kingdom’ a few months ago in Leeds Art Gallery.

The Refusal of Time - William Kentridge

This large installation piece by South African artist William Kentridge utilises multiple projections on different walls and music but most notably, a large wooden piston based device/machine in the centre of the room which seems to just perpetually move back and forth. The room is filled with wooden chairs which circle the room and the audience come in and sit around thus big wooden device at some point during the installations 30 min loop. The piece perfectly creates an atmosphere, and depending on the music and projections, this can range from being uplifted to being a bit unnerved and freaked out.

Threshold to the Kingdom - Mark Wallinger

This video and sound piece by Mark Wallinger perfectly demonstrates how adding music to a video can give it so much more atmosphere and drama. A slow motion video of passengers leaving a terminal at London airport is played in an 11 min loop, with Gregorio Allegri’s Miserere Me Deus playing simultaneously. The music gives the seemingly mundane video a religious and dramatic tone, the viewer feels as if the simple actions of these people are heightened in importance just because they’re in slow motion and choral music is playing.

So how do these pieces relate to the archive 41 exhibition curation? Well I think it would be really cool to create this kind of immersive experience. Have dim or blue lights, music playing and just little spotlights on the work. I think this sort of atmosphere would heighten the experience of the exhibition and give more context to the work. As we look more at finalising the curation now, I want to avoid sort of gimmicky space themed ideas and focus more on creating that atmosphere in the space.