James Webb, Untitled (with the sound of its own making), 2016. Mehrkanal-Soundinstallation, Ausstellungsansicht Blank Projects, Kapstadt, Foto: Kyle Morland, Courtesy der Künstler, Blank Projects und Galerie Imane Farès, Paris
JAMES WEBB
»IF YOU SHOUTED INTO THE NIGHT, WHAT DO YOU THINK THE NIGHT WOULD SHOUT BACK IN RESPONSE?«
MAY 24 - JUNE 18, 2017
James Webb’s sound installations touch on political, social and emotional topics with subtle and poetic directness. This South African artist has, for example, recorded prayers from all the religions in a city and broadcast them together to create a moving archive of contemporary multi-faith vocal practice (Prayer, 2000 - ongoing), and concealed audio speakers in trees so as to surreptitiously broadcast the songs of foreign birds into public space (There’s No Place Called Home, 2005- ongoing). For these he uses sounds charged with context and association, and through processes of ellipsis, displacement and détournement creates situations that probe the dynamics of belief and communication in our world. Webb’s practice employs a variety of media including radio transmissions, live performance, site-specific interventions, and large-scale museum installations, referencing aspects of the conceptualist and minimalist traditions, as well as his academic studies in advertising, comparative religion and theatre.
For the second part of the exhibition series WYHIWYG the Bielefelder Kunstverein premieres the multi-channel sound installation »If you shouted into the night, what do you think the night would shout back in response?« (2017) by South African artist James Webb. The title of the artwork comes from a line in the 2017 radio play „The War Of The Worlds“ (2017) recently created by James Webb and written by Louis Viljoen for the Documenta 14 radio program. The multi-channel sound installation »If you shouted into the night, what do you think the night would shout back in response?« (Duration: 2:40:46) comprises eight separate and synchronised radio transmissions recorded during the 2015 South African State of the Nation address (SoNA) delivered by the president Jacob Zuma on the 12th of February 2015. The audio feeds feature local and national radio stations, including the state broadcaster and independent channels, as well as a so-called “empty” bandwidth of electromagnetic noise.
The SoNA is the annual joint sitting of the South African parliament (National Assembly (NA) and National Council of Provinces (NCOP)), officiated by the president of the republic with an address to the nation. The 2015 iteration saw major disruptions due to nationwide protests, the contested use of a military signal jammer in parliament, numerous point of order interruptions, the presence of security police, and a large physical fight breaking out before a political party was ejected from the proceedings. It was an event that lead one newspaper to call it "the day our country broke” (Ranjeni Munusamy, Daily Maverick, 13 February 2015, www.dailymaverick.co.za). More generous reports quipped, "This year's State of the Nation Address definitely did not disappoint in providing entertainment for millions of South Africans” (Phumlani Pikoli, EWN, 12 February 2015, www.ewnco.za). .The artwork allows the audience to scrutinise this historical event from the points of view of the different audio feeds. And due to the broadcast delays that radio stations use, the transmission of the SoNA - when heard together in the sound installation - has a delayed echo effect to it that poetically seems to emphasise the political repercussions of the event.
James Webb, born in Kimberley (RSA) in 1975, has been represented in recent years with works in numerous exhibitions and institutions, among them the 9th Lyon Biennale of Contemporary Art (F, 2007), 55th Biennale di Venezia (I, 2013), and the 12th Bienal de la Habana (Cuba, 2015), and is currently in the 13th Sharjah Biennale (UAE, 2016-17). Most recently, solo exhibitions were on view in the Yorkshire Sculpture Park in Wakefield, Galerie Imane Farès in Paris, and at blank projects in Cape Town (all 2016).
Thomas Köner, Illustration zu »Evakuation«, 2016. Courtesy der Künstler
THOMAS KÖNER
»EVAKUATION«
APRIL 29 - MAY 21, 2017
Numerous music projects by the live performer, composer and producer, Thomas Köner, come about on his travels. He records sounds and noises specific to locations all over the world and translates them into melodic compositions and experimental soundscapes by using electronic and analogue devices. In this, his soundscapes function beyond the boundaries of genre. Contrasts in time and space, such as closeness and distance or wontedness and strangeness, combine in his »begehbaren Partituren« (accessible scores) and become a heterophonic resonant space. Köner is concerned with articulating an auditory experience outside of musical conceptions. That is because only tones can manage to produce an interaction between loudspeakers and the consciousness of hearers.
Thomas Köner’s (born in Bochum in 1965) sound and video installations have been shown at, among other places, the 5th International Media Art Biennale in the Seoul Museum of Art (KOR, 2008), Centre Pompidou in Paris (F, 2008, 2009), the Transmediale in Berlin (2009) and in the Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes in Santiago de Chile (CHL, 2010). Alongside his installations, Köner has composed the music for several films and published numerous radio productions and albums since the beginning of the 1990’s, among other things, as part of the band, Porter Ricks.
