VINYL focuses on a special area of artistic creation in the 20th
century.
It shows in visual and acoustic presentation long-playing records of visual
artists, reflecting the variety of sound and language experiments at the limits
of music. With the extension of artistic expression into the field of sound and
the visual forming of the record and its cover works of an innovative character
and high aesthetic quality emerged. Artists from different trends of art
created for their sound works the adequate covers.
The vinyl records acquire now-a-days a mythic character for the younger
generation, for the older already a historical one. The exhibition is divided
into different sections, ranging from the avant-garde movements of the
twenties, like Dadaism and Futurism, over movements like Fluxus, Nouveau
Réalisme, Pop Art, Zaj and Concept Art until most recent sound experiments.
Often the recordings are the results of performances or other actions, thus
documenting important artistic forms of creation of that period.
Special parts of the exhibition deal with particular themes, e.g. Soundpoetry,
or they present with ensembles of records the work of single artists, among
others Hanne Darboven, Jean Dubuffet, Dieter Roth, Joseph Beuys, A.R. Penck,
Laurie Anderson, Milan Knizak, the group Laibach, William Burroughs and Allen
Ginsberg („Beat Generation“), Henri Chopin’s Revue OU or Giorno Poetry
Systems. With records from the Rolling Stones and the Beatles the
connection between visual art and Rock and Pop Music is shown. Visual artists
like Richard Hamilton, Andy Warhol, Robert Frank or Les Levine have given these
records their special appearance.
In a special “sound cabinet” the visitor has access to almost all records in
the collection. On individual request several hundreds of sound works from 250
LPs can be chosen and be listened to.
*from the curators' note by Guy Schraenen
Collection Guy Schraenen
Co-organizers: Research Centre for Artist's Publications, Weserburg, Bremen;
MACBA, Museu d'Art Contemporani de Barcelona, Barcelona.
