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Harman pro UK Collaborates with The Architectural Association for ‘Can Buildings Curate’
Leading audio sales supplier Harman Pro UK has supplied a quantity of sound equipment for the Architectural Association’s “Can Buildings Curate” exhibition.
The show opened at the AA Gallery in Bedford Square, London in May and is now touring. The first stop is the LOT gallery in Bristol, in September it travels to New York’s Storefront, and then on to Leipzig’s Centre of Contemporary Art.
Can Buildings Curate is a completely flexible exhibition curated by Shumon Basar, Joshua Bolchover and Parag Sharma – also known as newbetter.
Taking the modern gallery setting as a site of artistic, architectural and curatorial adventure it explores the role of the modern gallery and the physical and psychological tensions and relationships coexisting between the exhibition spaces, the buildings and the art being presented within “before and after the whitewash”.
It contains an average of 15 exhibits including four sound pieces. This element of the show emphasises the importance of design techniques including audio.
One of the original works at the AA Gallery was David Cunningham’s ‘Exterior’, an exterior context-based installation in the front basement of the building, utilising JBL Control Series enclosures – his speaker of choice. The Architectural Association wanted to provide as much of the necessary equipment to stage the show themselves, which set exhibition co-ordinator Lee Regan off on a trail to try to acquire the kit they needed.
This led him – via Cunningham’s recommendation of the JBL brand - to Harman, where Communications manager Su Planta jumped at the chance to collaborate with the Association and help source the gear needed for staging the show. Planta comments: “It’s been really invigorating to be working with the Architectural Association on such an excellent project.”
‘Exterior’ was commissioned by the AA and curated by Mathieu Copeland. Cunningham found the space between the street and below the façade of the school, literally a shadowy gap or an in-between space that collects noise and feeds back on itself. He rigged up the two JBL Control 25s each with a mic going through a noise gate and a mixer and then back out through the speakers, producing a cyclic sound that feeds from itself and animates the building, impacting on visitors before they enter the space. Harman also supplied the amplifier.
Nicholas Hirsch’s ‘Meander - Sound Architecture for Frequencies-Hz’ features the work of 12 Sound Artists replayed through a ceiling speaker enclosed in a booth covered with insulation foam from tractor engines. “There are some really odd sounds and some very high frequencies in this work,” says Regan, “So we needed a really good quality speaker and the JBL Control 26C is ideal.” The work effectively creates a personal listening space within the public environment of the gallery.
AS-IF architects and curator Barbara Steiner created a video work at the Gallery for Contemporary Art in Leipzig detailing the movable partitions and walls of the gallery. The work is played back via a DVD player and a pair of JBL ‘Creature’ speakers, chosen for their architectural shape (they resemble Darth Vader helmets) and supplied by Harman
Drabble + Sachs and Isa Stürm Performance Debate is the final piece with sound, featuring three sets of AKG K101 headphones through which visitors can listen to a tripartite debate between the architect, the artist and the curator. The recording is of a live performance debate by the three axis of the love/hate triangle accompanied by an image battle to the bitter end!
The exhibition has been extremely well attended and received outstanding reviews. The AA Exhibitions Team of Vanessa Norwood, Simone Sagi and Lee Regan comments: “The generous sponsorship of equipment from Harman Pro allowed artworks in “Can Buildings Curate” to maximize their potential and captivate the public. The Architectural Association is extremely grateful for the interest expressed by Harman Pro and looks forward to future working relationships. "
9th August 2005
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