Music for Museums

17 September 2015 – 29 November 2015
Whitechapel Gallery, Gallery 2

From Fluxus compositions of the faintest possible sounds emitted by instruments, human bodies or electronic apparatuses, to music derived from mathematical systems and works featuring the drone and feedback of electric guitars, Music for Museums explores the intersection of visual art and experimental music.

This season of fi lm and live music has its roots in the 1960s when museums became a site of experimentation and collaboration between artists and musicians in contrast to the more conservative concert halls. It features a series of performances, a film programme, and audio interventions in the public areas of the gallery by the collaborative project Support Structure.

A programme of fi lm screenings focuses on the dynamic relationship between moving image and music with works by Cory Arcangel, Sonia Boyce and Ain Bailey, Tony Cokes, Manon de Boer, Beatrice Gibson, Ken Jacobs, Mikhail Karikis and Uriel Orlow, Tony Oursler, Nam June Paik, Jayne Parker, Elizabeth Price and Mika Taanila.

Live music performances, on Thursday evenings and Saturday afternoons, feature works by ground-breaking avant-garde composers and artists from the Fluxus and Minimalist generation to contemporary compositions and improvisations by electronic and experimental artists and musicians.

In partnership with: The Vinyl Factory

Conceived in association with: Guest Curator Tom Trevor

Music For Museums
Live Performance Listings

To book visit: whitechapelgallery.org
T + 44 (0) 20 7522 7888 E info@whitechapelgallery.org

Fluxus

Apartment House plays Cage, Paik, Maciunas and more
Thurs 17 September, 8pm (Tickets: £12, £10 conc.)
London-based experimental music ensemble Apartment House performs a series of key Fluxus scores. Performed by Philip Thomas (piano), Lore Lixenberg (voice), Anton Lukoszevieze (cello), the acoustic programme includes works by George Brecht, John Cage, Alison Knowles and Nam June Paik, among others.

David Toop, Rie Nakajima and Angharad Davies play Mieko Shiomi
Sat 19 September, 4pm (Tickets: £12, £10 conc.)
David Toop is joined by fellow musicians Rie Nakajima and Angharad Davies and by students from University of the Arts London to perform a work loosely based on Mieko Shiomi’s Fluxus event score Boundary Music (1963).

The Voice

Gavin Bryars with Etel Adnan
1 October, 8pm (Tickets: £12, £10 conc.)
Musician and composer Gavin Bryars has collaborated with artist and poet Etel Adnan for over 30 years on numerous projects, from large-scale operatic pieces to intimate improvised readings.

Paul Abbott and Cara Tolmie / Mikhail Karikis
3 October, 4pm (Tickets: £12, £10 conc.)
For this double bill, musician Paul Abbott and artist Cara Tolmie collaborate and Mikhail Karikis performs solo, in two sets that explore the importance of the voice.

Electronica

Florian Hecker
15 October, 8pm (Tickets: £12, £10 conc.)
In his installations, live performances and publications, Florian Hecker explores specific compositional developments of post-war modernity, electro-acoustic music, and other, non-musical disciplines. An implicit influence throughout is the work of experimental composer, Iannis Xenakis. Hecker dramatizes space, time and self-perception in his sonic works by isolating specific sounds, often evoking sensations and memories, by creating intense, immersive experiences.

Hassan Khan
17 October, 4pm (Tickets: £12, £10 conc.)
Hassan Khan’s performances combine live improvisation with existing compositions, often classical Arabic music, which he restructures in the studio. Using his own system, which features an array of feed backing mixers, filters, processors, laptop manipulators, virtual synthesizers and live mics, he creates a dialogue between the pre-recorded material and the live improvisation, transforming the original material with an electronic imprint.

Systems

Ryoji Ikeda and Carsten Nicolai (cyclo.)
29 October, 8pm (Tickets: £12, £10 conc.)
cyclo. is a collaborative research project by Ryoji Ikeda and Carsten Nicolai focussing on the visualisation of sound. In a multisensory and immersive event, cyclo. performs against a backdrop of dynamic visuals generated through real-time sound analysis.

Oliver Coates plays Hanne Darboven
31 October, 4pm (Tickets: £12, £10 conc.)
For this event, cellist Oliver Coates performs Opus 17a and Opus 17b by conceptual artist Hanne Darboven (1941–2009), from her major composition Wunschkonzert (1984). Based on the late artist’s mathematical grid drawings transcribed into music, Coates plays 100 minutes of continuous music, creating contemplative minimalist themes with subtle variations.

Machines

Mark Fell
12 November, 8pm (Tickets: £12, £10 conc.)
Mark Fell presents a new performance. This will coincide with his new commission at Whitechapel Gallery with artist Luke Fowler (28 October 2015 – 7 February 2016). Fell is widely known for combining popular music styles, such as electronica and techno, with more academic approaches to computer-based composition with a particular emphasis on algorithmic and mathematical systems.

Dominic Murcott plays Conlon Nancarrow
14 November, 4pm (Tickets: £12, £10 conc.)
Composer and percussionist Dominic Murcott, is a specialist on the music of American composer Conlon Nancarrow (1912–97), who is best known for his complex player piano pieces and tape compositions. Combining acoustic instruments, computers and other media, Murcott presents a series of Nancarrow works alongside his own compositions created in response to these.

Sonic Spaces

Thurston Moore
26 November, 8pm (Tickets: £12, £10 conc.)
Thurston Moore responds to the music of the late avant-garde composer Maryanne Amacher (1938–2009), known for her sonic experiments with architectural spaces and psychoacoustic phenomena. Sonic Youth founder Moore collaborated with the late electronic music pioneer in the film Daytrip Maryanne and in a live performance in 2004.

Rhys Chatham
28 November, 4pm (Tickets: £12, £10 conc.)
Rhys Chatham performs a solo set in which his voice, trumpet, electric guitar, alto and C flutes, are played through multiple digital recordings and delays. The set is strongly influenced by early minimalism and the NoWave scene at CBGBs, Max’s Kansas City, and the Mudd Club in New York during the 70s and 80s.

Visitor Information
Opening times: Tuesday – Sunday, 11am – 6pm, Thursdays, 11am – 9pm
Whitechapel Gallery, 77 – 82 Whitechapel High Street, London E1 7QX
Nearest London Underground Station: Aldgate East, Liverpool Street, Tower Gateway DLR. T + 44 (0) 20 7522 7888 E info@whitechapelgallery.org

Press Information
For further press information and images contact:
Alex Fynn O’Neill on +44 (0)20 7539 3360 or email alexoneill@whitechapelgallery.org

Visit the Music for Museums exhibition page.