.
STEVE PARKER
STEVE PARKER Futurist Listening Curated by
MARCELA GUERRERO
137Â West 25th Street New York, NY 10001
cuear tfoundation.org 2
Januar y 9 - Februar y 12, 2020 1
STEVE PARKER Futurist Listening Curated by
MARCELA GUERRERO
137Â West 25th Street New York, NY 10001
cuear tfoundation.org 2
Januar y 9 - Februar y 12, 2020 1
Ghost Box, 2018 Brass, wires, ink on paper, electronics, headphones, instrument case 96 x 144 x 12 inches 2
3
Ghost Box, 2018 Brass, wires, ink on paper, electronics, headphones, instrument case 96 x 144 x 12 inches 2
3
Futurist Listening Steve Parker
I gather people into democratic, communal rituals to explore systems of behavior, their variability across history, and their application to contemporary life. My projects include elaborate civic rituals for humans, animals, and machines; listening sculptures modeled after obsolete surveillance tools; and cathartic transportation symphonies for operators of cars, pedicabs, and bicycles. I work broadly with materials: primitive, analog, and digital instruments; amateur choirs and symphony orchestras; birders and church parishioners; bus drivers and pedicab fleets; urban bat colonies, honeybee hives, and flocks of grackles.
4
Futurist Listening examines the history of listening in conflict. The exhibition merges tools of conflict (acoustic locators, air raid sirens, anarchist noise intoners, coded radio transmissions, propaganda, and maps of the WWII Ghost Army) with the listening philosophies of Pauline Oliveros and John Cage to create interactive sound sculptures that facilitate awareness, discovery, and renewal. The exhibition is conceived as an ongoing performance where visitors realize a series of compositions using sonic headdresses, invented instruments, and graphic notation.
Steve Parker is an artist, Orleans, LA; the Blanton Museum musician, and curator who of Art, Austin, TX; the Asian Arts creates communal, democratic Initiative, Philadelphia, PA; The work to examine history, systems, Contemporary Austin, Austin, and behavior. He is the recipient TX; Bowerbird, Philadelphia, PA; of a Fulbright Fellowship, a and the Gene Siskel Film Center, Harrington Fellowship, and the Chicago, IL. As a soloist and as an Tito’s Prize. Parker has exhibited artist of NYC-based "new music and performed at institutions, dream team" Ensemble Signal, public spaces, and festivals inter- he has premiered more than 200 nationally. Highlights include new works. Art Basel, Miami Beach, FL; the Lucerne Festival, Switzerland; Parker has been awarded support MASS MoCA, North Adams, MA; from the National Endowment the Lincoln Center Festival, New for the Arts, New Music USA, the York, NY; the Crystal Bridges Copland Foundation, the Puffin Museum of American Art, Foundation, and the Mid America Bentonville, AR; the Guggenheim Arts Alliance. He is the Curator Museum, New York, NY; the of SoundSpace at the Blanton Fusebox Festival, Austin, TX; Museum of Art, Executive Tanglewood, Lenox, MA; inSIGHT, Director of Collide Arts, and a Los Angeles Philharmonic, CA; full-time faculty member at UT SXSW, Austin, TX; The Stone at San Antonio. He holds degrees the New School, New York, NY; in Math and Music from Oberlin, Contemporary Arts Center, New Rice, and UT Austin.
5
Futurist Listening Steve Parker
I gather people into democratic, communal rituals to explore systems of behavior, their variability across history, and their application to contemporary life. My projects include elaborate civic rituals for humans, animals, and machines; listening sculptures modeled after obsolete surveillance tools; and cathartic transportation symphonies for operators of cars, pedicabs, and bicycles. I work broadly with materials: primitive, analog, and digital instruments; amateur choirs and symphony orchestras; birders and church parishioners; bus drivers and pedicab fleets; urban bat colonies, honeybee hives, and flocks of grackles.
4
Futurist Listening examines the history of listening in conflict. The exhibition merges tools of conflict (acoustic locators, air raid sirens, anarchist noise intoners, coded radio transmissions, propaganda, and maps of the WWII Ghost Army) with the listening philosophies of Pauline Oliveros and John Cage to create interactive sound sculptures that facilitate awareness, discovery, and renewal. The exhibition is conceived as an ongoing performance where visitors realize a series of compositions using sonic headdresses, invented instruments, and graphic notation.
Steve Parker is an artist, Orleans, LA; the Blanton Museum musician, and curator who of Art, Austin, TX; the Asian Arts creates communal, democratic Initiative, Philadelphia, PA; The work to examine history, systems, Contemporary Austin, Austin, and behavior. He is the recipient TX; Bowerbird, Philadelphia, PA; of a Fulbright Fellowship, a and the Gene Siskel Film Center, Harrington Fellowship, and the Chicago, IL. As a soloist and as an Tito’s Prize. Parker has exhibited artist of NYC-based "new music and performed at institutions, dream team" Ensemble Signal, public spaces, and festivals inter- he has premiered more than 200 nationally. Highlights include new works. Art Basel, Miami Beach, FL; the Lucerne Festival, Switzerland; Parker has been awarded support MASS MoCA, North Adams, MA; from the National Endowment the Lincoln Center Festival, New for the Arts, New Music USA, the York, NY; the Crystal Bridges Copland Foundation, the Puffin Museum of American Art, Foundation, and the Mid America Bentonville, AR; the Guggenheim Arts Alliance. He is the Curator Museum, New York, NY; the of SoundSpace at the Blanton Fusebox Festival, Austin, TX; Museum of Art, Executive Tanglewood, Lenox, MA; inSIGHT, Director of Collide Arts, and a Los Angeles Philharmonic, CA; full-time faculty member at UT SXSW, Austin, TX; The Stone at San Antonio. He holds degrees the New School, New York, NY; in Math and Music from Oberlin, Contemporary Arts Center, New Rice, and UT Austin.
5
MARCELA GUERRERO Curator-Mentor
“If a sound takes your attention to a focus, then follow the sound all the way to the end as you return to the whole of the space/time continuum.” - Pauline Oliveros
Futurist Listening marks Steve Parker’s debut as a visual artist in New York City. The Austin-based artist, who is an accomplished musician and academic, today rewards us with a presentation of his sculptures and other two-dimensional works without neglecting the aural element that has characterized his practice. Through the retooling of musical instruments and other early twentieth-century wartime technologies with theories of listening developed by composers such as Pauline Oliveros, Parker examines what it means to listen during moments of political conflict. The meeting of these two—the deployment of sound as an instrument of
6
war and listening philosophies— represents an optimistic proposition for the future: it is possible to disarm the tools of the state that dictate behavior and incite conflict and to focus, rather, on our awareness of the communal experience of the aural. To put it succinctly, how can we listen (to each other) better? Parker has aptly conceived of this exhibition as an ongoing performance that privileges the visual as much as the aural. As viewers and listeners (in this exhibition these two roles productively collide with each other) we are asked to radically transform our understanding of musical and sound apparatuses from the first half of the 20th century and reimagine a future interpretation of these objects using our 21st century ears. At the center of this proposition are the instruments that he employs to this end. A quintessential
Marcela Guerrero is Assistant Curator at the Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, where she recently curated the exhibition Pacha, Llaqta, Wasichay: Indigenous Space, Modern Architecture, on view from July 13–September 30, 2018. From 2014 to 2017, she worked as a Curatorial Fellow at the Hammer Museum in Los Angeles, where she was involved in the much-lauded exhibition Radical Women: Latin American Art, 1960-1985, organized as part of the Getty Foundation’s Pacific The close proximity of the CUE Standard Time: LA/LA initiative Art Foundation gallery to the and guest-curated by Cecilia street is an apt reminder of how Fajardo-Hill and Andrea Giunta. art can filter out the noise, so Prior to joining the Hammer, she to speak, and fix our attention worked in the Latin American on tools that can build a better and Latino art department at the future. The exhibition Futurist Listening is Parker’s sound advice Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, for building empathy through the where she was the research coordinator for the International foundations of listening. Center for the Arts of the Americas. Guerrero’s writing has appeared in exhibition catalogues and in art journals such as caa.reviews, ArtNexus, Caribbean Intransit, Gulf Coast, Interventions, and Diálogo. Born and raised in Puerto Rico, Guerrero holds a PhD in art history from the University of Wisconsin, Madison. sculpture, a musical instrument is as much the product of the hand of the craftsman as it is of the player who activates it. By inviting us to wear the sonic headdresses and to listen to the sculptures in the round, Parker takes full advantage of the symbiotic relationship between object and experience that his instruments hold. Performance is thus a form of experiencing the exhibition, and also a reminder of the agency inherent in all of us.
7
MARCELA GUERRERO Curator-Mentor
“If a sound takes your attention to a focus, then follow the sound all the way to the end as you return to the whole of the space/time continuum.” - Pauline Oliveros
Futurist Listening marks Steve Parker’s debut as a visual artist in New York City. The Austin-based artist, who is an accomplished musician and academic, today rewards us with a presentation of his sculptures and other two-dimensional works without neglecting the aural element that has characterized his practice. Through the retooling of musical instruments and other early twentieth-century wartime technologies with theories of listening developed by composers such as Pauline Oliveros, Parker examines what it means to listen during moments of political conflict. The meeting of these two—the deployment of sound as an instrument of
6
war and listening philosophies— represents an optimistic proposition for the future: it is possible to disarm the tools of the state that dictate behavior and incite conflict and to focus, rather, on our awareness of the communal experience of the aural. To put it succinctly, how can we listen (to each other) better? Parker has aptly conceived of this exhibition as an ongoing performance that privileges the visual as much as the aural. As viewers and listeners (in this exhibition these two roles productively collide with each other) we are asked to radically transform our understanding of musical and sound apparatuses from the first half of the 20th century and reimagine a future interpretation of these objects using our 21st century ears. At the center of this proposition are the instruments that he employs to this end. A quintessential
Marcela Guerrero is Assistant Curator at the Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, where she recently curated the exhibition Pacha, Llaqta, Wasichay: Indigenous Space, Modern Architecture, on view from July 13–September 30, 2018. From 2014 to 2017, she worked as a Curatorial Fellow at the Hammer Museum in Los Angeles, where she was involved in the much-lauded exhibition Radical Women: Latin American Art, 1960-1985, organized as part of the Getty Foundation’s Pacific The close proximity of the CUE Standard Time: LA/LA initiative Art Foundation gallery to the and guest-curated by Cecilia street is an apt reminder of how Fajardo-Hill and Andrea Giunta. art can filter out the noise, so Prior to joining the Hammer, she to speak, and fix our attention worked in the Latin American on tools that can build a better and Latino art department at the future. The exhibition Futurist Listening is Parker’s sound advice Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, for building empathy through the where she was the research coordinator for the International foundations of listening. Center for the Arts of the Americas. Guerrero’s writing has appeared in exhibition catalogues and in art journals such as caa.reviews, ArtNexus, Caribbean Intransit, Gulf Coast, Interventions, and Diálogo. Born and raised in Puerto Rico, Guerrero holds a PhD in art history from the University of Wisconsin, Madison. sculpture, a musical instrument is as much the product of the hand of the craftsman as it is of the player who activates it. By inviting us to wear the sonic headdresses and to listen to the sculptures in the round, Parker takes full advantage of the symbiotic relationship between object and experience that his instruments hold. Performance is thus a form of experiencing the exhibition, and also a reminder of the agency inherent in all of us.
7
GHOST BOX is modeled after schematic drawings for a WWIIera radio. When touched, the sculpture plays different looped audio clips of coded songs from the Underground Railroad, coded transmissions like Morse Code, and jamming signals of Soviet Russia and Communist China.
Ghost Box, 2018 Brass, wires, ink on paper, electronics, headphones, instrument case 96 x 144 x 12 inches
8
9
GHOST BOX is modeled after schematic drawings for a WWIIera radio. When touched, the sculpture plays different looped audio clips of coded songs from the Underground Railroad, coded transmissions like Morse Code, and jamming signals of Soviet Russia and Communist China.
Ghost Box, 2018 Brass, wires, ink on paper, electronics, headphones, instrument case 96 x 144 x 12 inches
8
9
Ghost Scores, 2018 Paper, ink, map pins, wire 11 x 17 inches
GHOST ARMY SCORES The Ghost Army was an Allied Army tactical deception unit during World War II. Their mission was to impersonate other Allied Army units to deceive the enemy. From a few weeks before D-Day, when they landed in France, until the end of the war, they put on a “traveling road show� utilizing inflatable tanks, sound trucks, fake radio transmissions, scripts, and sound projections. The unit was an incubator for many young artists who went on to have a major impact on the post-war US, including Ellsworth Kelly, Bill Blass, and Arthur Singer. This series of graphic scores combines the visual language of the Ghost Army with graphic notation. Fragments of tactical maps, symbols, and coded messages are translated, transcribed, and combined with notation inspired by John Cage, Cornelius Cardew, and ballet choreography.
10
11
Ghost Scores, 2018 Paper, ink, map pins, wire 11 x 17 inches
GHOST ARMY SCORES The Ghost Army was an Allied Army tactical deception unit during World War II. Their mission was to impersonate other Allied Army units to deceive the enemy. From a few weeks before D-Day, when they landed in France, until the end of the war, they put on a “traveling road show� utilizing inflatable tanks, sound trucks, fake radio transmissions, scripts, and sound projections. The unit was an incubator for many young artists who went on to have a major impact on the post-war US, including Ellsworth Kelly, Bill Blass, and Arthur Singer. This series of graphic scores combines the visual language of the Ghost Army with graphic notation. Fragments of tactical maps, symbols, and coded messages are translated, transcribed, and combined with notation inspired by John Cage, Cornelius Cardew, and ballet choreography.
10
11
12
13
12
13
ASMR ÉTUDE ASMR (Autonomous Sensory Meridian Response) is an experience characterized by a static-like or tingling sensation on the skin triggered by specific auditory phenomenon. It is sometimes used to treat anxiety, PTSD, and insomnia. The samples used in this piece are taken from recordings of ASMR artists who have significant followings in the ASMR community. To realize this piece, the viewer should utilize the provided wearable acoustic locators, modeled after German models from the mid-twentieth century.
ASMR Étude, 2018 Brass, plastic, copper, speakers, electronics, and recorded voices Dimensions variable
14
15
ASMR ÉTUDE ASMR (Autonomous Sensory Meridian Response) is an experience characterized by a static-like or tingling sensation on the skin triggered by specific auditory phenomenon. It is sometimes used to treat anxiety, PTSD, and insomnia. The samples used in this piece are taken from recordings of ASMR artists who have significant followings in the ASMR community. To realize this piece, the viewer should utilize the provided wearable acoustic locators, modeled after German models from the mid-twentieth century.
ASMR Étude, 2018 Brass, plastic, copper, speakers, electronics, and recorded voices Dimensions variable
14
15
16
17
16
17
18
19
18
19
SIRENS Civil defense sirens are used to provide warnings of approaching danger and to indicate when danger has passed. Sirens were initially designed to warn citizens of air raids in World War II, but many are no longer operational. In Greek mythology, the Sirens were dangerous creatures who lured nearby sailors with enchanting music to shipwreck on the rocky coast of their island. This sculpture reimagines the function of the contemporary civil defense siren. Rather than projecting conventional warning tones, Sirens plays intermittent recordings of songs of distress as a call to action.
Sirens, 2018 Brass, steel, conduit, plastic, recorded voices 84 x 36 x 36 inches
20
21
SIRENS Civil defense sirens are used to provide warnings of approaching danger and to indicate when danger has passed. Sirens were initially designed to warn citizens of air raids in World War II, but many are no longer operational. In Greek mythology, the Sirens were dangerous creatures who lured nearby sailors with enchanting music to shipwreck on the rocky coast of their island. This sculpture reimagines the function of the contemporary civil defense siren. Rather than projecting conventional warning tones, Sirens plays intermittent recordings of songs of distress as a call to action.
Sirens, 2018 Brass, steel, conduit, plastic, recorded voices 84 x 36 x 36 inches
20
21
NOISE INTONERS The intonarumori were wild instruments that produced jarring noises and sometimes incited rioting. The Italian futurist Luigi Russolo built these instruments to perform the music outlined in his “Art of Noises” manifesto and their categories included “racklers, gurglers, rumblers, buzzers, bursters, hissers, howlers and rubbers.” These devices were built to mimic sounds of modern life and provoke political action. The series of noise intoners in this exhibit repurposes Russolo’s design and function, utilizing samples of protests, chants, and sonic weapons.
Noise Intoners, 2019 Brass, plumbing, plywood, recorded voices Dimensions variable 22
23
NOISE INTONERS The intonarumori were wild instruments that produced jarring noises and sometimes incited rioting. The Italian futurist Luigi Russolo built these instruments to perform the music outlined in his “Art of Noises” manifesto and their categories included “racklers, gurglers, rumblers, buzzers, bursters, hissers, howlers and rubbers.” These devices were built to mimic sounds of modern life and provoke political action. The series of noise intoners in this exhibit repurposes Russolo’s design and function, utilizing samples of protests, chants, and sonic weapons.
Noise Intoners, 2019 Brass, plumbing, plywood, recorded voices Dimensions variable 22
23
STEVE PARKER: Call and Respond Lilia Rocio Taboada
loud, tumultuous history of the In her 2006 essay, scholar Claire Bishop states," physical early 20th century, as expressed in the music of brass bands, to involvement is considered the noise of everyday life. His an essential precursor to 1 work builds upon the mid-20th social change.” To expand century legacy of participatory art upon Bishop’s ideas, physical (such as Fluxus, Happenings, and involvement with an artwork can transform an experience in an art Performance Art) and takes it into gallery from passive viewership to new, technology-driven territory.3 active participation, shifting the arts from an elite experience into Throughout Futurist Listening, a source to prompt social action.2 the participant must look, move, With a practice combining and listen. Assemblages like sculptural and auditory elements, his 2018 sculpture, Sirens, use Steve Parker’s exhibition Futurist repurposed brass instruments Listening reimagines the role of of all sizes—the trumpet, French sensory audience participation horn, tuba, and trombone, as a social interruption, blending amongst others. Separated from the sculptural and the sonic in an their mechanics for individual environment that offers respite performance, Parker welds and from the chaos beyond the bolts these instruments to a exhibition’s walls. Parker’s use central plastic body to produce of repurposed instruments and brass constructions that appear early sonic technology links the monumental, if not totem-like, at 24
War Tuba Recital exhibition view Big Medium, Austin, TX, 2018 Photo by Colin Doyle
25
STEVE PARKER: Call and Respond Lilia Rocio Taboada
loud, tumultuous history of the In her 2006 essay, scholar Claire Bishop states," physical early 20th century, as expressed in the music of brass bands, to involvement is considered the noise of everyday life. His an essential precursor to 1 work builds upon the mid-20th social change.” To expand century legacy of participatory art upon Bishop’s ideas, physical (such as Fluxus, Happenings, and involvement with an artwork can transform an experience in an art Performance Art) and takes it into gallery from passive viewership to new, technology-driven territory.3 active participation, shifting the arts from an elite experience into Throughout Futurist Listening, a source to prompt social action.2 the participant must look, move, With a practice combining and listen. Assemblages like sculptural and auditory elements, his 2018 sculpture, Sirens, use Steve Parker’s exhibition Futurist repurposed brass instruments Listening reimagines the role of of all sizes—the trumpet, French sensory audience participation horn, tuba, and trombone, as a social interruption, blending amongst others. Separated from the sculptural and the sonic in an their mechanics for individual environment that offers respite performance, Parker welds and from the chaos beyond the bolts these instruments to a exhibition’s walls. Parker’s use central plastic body to produce of repurposed instruments and brass constructions that appear early sonic technology links the monumental, if not totem-like, at 24
War Tuba Recital exhibition view Big Medium, Austin, TX, 2018 Photo by Colin Doyle
25
Ghost Scores, 2018 Paper, ink, map pins, wire 11 x 17 inches each
26
the center of the gallery space. of sound through a medium At this scale, the sculptures designed for warfare. In the evoke the overwhelming same vein as experimental sea of musicians and brass works by renowned performer instruments that perform at Pauline Oliveros, who composed modern-day sporting events, sonic performances of visually suggesting the power environmental sounds called of collective action. Parker’s “Sonic Meditations,”4 ASMR assemblages invite the viewer Étude unites music to bodywork to step closer—the first stage in as a remedy for the stresses of participatory action explored society.5 Like Oliveros, Parker throughout his practice. sheds light upon the calming Parker’s wearable sculptures potential of experimental listening. further immerse the viewer through two opposing functions Wall works such as Ghost Scores, of sound: the incitement of 2018, also offer a moment political violence and the healing of meditation through the of trauma. He explores the manipulation of everyday chaos. potential of ambient recordings, In this series, Parker references such as Autonomous Sensory the visual notations of the Ghost Meridian Response (ASMR)—a Army, a United States deception whispered, ambient noise unit that used sound, amongst often used as a treatment for other tactics, to impersonate anxiety, PTSD, and insomnia. other Allied units during World In ASMR Étude, created in War II.6 Each work in the series is 2018 and reworked for Futurist composed of intersecting wires Listening, the participant hears of various colors placed above the whispered sounds of ASMR rectilinear abstract notations in through headphones attached red and black ink. Multicolored to brass instruments. The sounds pins dot the colored wires, and volume of the healing noise suggesting destinations on a shift depending on the wearer’s map or markers for musical position with regard to a gallery change. Two staves, referencing wall that has been outfitted with sheet music, run along the acoustic insertions. ASMR Étude bottom of the paper. The looping produces movement-activated wires are reminiscent of Anni sound using acoustic locator Albers’ drawings of knots, while technology originally intended the colorful pins are akin to as a military air defense tool, avant-garde trumpeter Wadada which detected the noise of Leo Smith’s color-coded musical enemy aircraft engines during scores. World War I and World War II. Despite the public nature of a Without a key or legend to assist gallery environment, the viewer the viewer, the compositions is isolated by the physical and hover between maps, musical sonic envelopment of Parker’s scores, and dance notations—all work, which, with knowing visual tools to spur physical irony, mimics the healing effects action on the part of a viewer 27
Ghost Scores, 2018 Paper, ink, map pins, wire 11 x 17 inches each
26
the center of the gallery space. of sound through a medium At this scale, the sculptures designed for warfare. In the evoke the overwhelming same vein as experimental sea of musicians and brass works by renowned performer instruments that perform at Pauline Oliveros, who composed modern-day sporting events, sonic performances of visually suggesting the power environmental sounds called of collective action. Parker’s “Sonic Meditations,”4 ASMR assemblages invite the viewer Étude unites music to bodywork to step closer—the first stage in as a remedy for the stresses of participatory action explored society.5 Like Oliveros, Parker throughout his practice. sheds light upon the calming Parker’s wearable sculptures potential of experimental listening. further immerse the viewer through two opposing functions Wall works such as Ghost Scores, of sound: the incitement of 2018, also offer a moment political violence and the healing of meditation through the of trauma. He explores the manipulation of everyday chaos. potential of ambient recordings, In this series, Parker references such as Autonomous Sensory the visual notations of the Ghost Meridian Response (ASMR)—a Army, a United States deception whispered, ambient noise unit that used sound, amongst often used as a treatment for other tactics, to impersonate anxiety, PTSD, and insomnia. other Allied units during World In ASMR Étude, created in War II.6 Each work in the series is 2018 and reworked for Futurist composed of intersecting wires Listening, the participant hears of various colors placed above the whispered sounds of ASMR rectilinear abstract notations in through headphones attached red and black ink. Multicolored to brass instruments. The sounds pins dot the colored wires, and volume of the healing noise suggesting destinations on a shift depending on the wearer’s map or markers for musical position with regard to a gallery change. Two staves, referencing wall that has been outfitted with sheet music, run along the acoustic insertions. ASMR Étude bottom of the paper. The looping produces movement-activated wires are reminiscent of Anni sound using acoustic locator Albers’ drawings of knots, while technology originally intended the colorful pins are akin to as a military air defense tool, avant-garde trumpeter Wadada which detected the noise of Leo Smith’s color-coded musical enemy aircraft engines during scores. World War I and World War II. Despite the public nature of a Without a key or legend to assist gallery environment, the viewer the viewer, the compositions is isolated by the physical and hover between maps, musical sonic envelopment of Parker’s scores, and dance notations—all work, which, with knowing visual tools to spur physical irony, mimics the healing effects action on the part of a viewer 27
or performer. As with his sound works, Parker offers a participatory tool, but leaves interpretation open to the viewer’s aural or physical response. The ghostly presence of choice serves as a reminder of the participation that is necessary to complete each work. The scores remain static, yet they contain the potential for agency if someone were to read the notations and take action. Bishop remarks that “shared production is also seen to entail the aesthetic benefits of greater risk and unpredictability.”7 By inviting viewers to complete his work, Parker encourages an unpredictable outcome created through their participation in and interpretation of an arts experience. Functioning in a time of information overload and surveillance culture, Parker creates a moment of controlled choice for the participant, setting aside his control over interpretation. Moreover, the presence of sound and Parker’s encouragement to listen closely is a remarkable lesson and sonic break from the hustle and bustle of the outside world. Whether through sound, objects, or notations, Futurist Listening invites the visitor to imagine potential in what is heard, seen, and felt—a welcome shift from a cultural climate imposing a limited range of possible futures.
28
1 Claire Bishop, “Introduction: Viewers as Producers,” in Claire Bishop, ed., Participation (Whitechapel Ventures Limited: London, 2006), 11. 2 Bishop, ibid. 3 From the late 1950s onward, artists around the world began to experiment with interactive and interdisciplinary art practices. The Fluxus movement, for example, involved international artists, composers, designers, and poets in plastic and performative works emphasizing the exchange between artist and audience. Likewise, Happenings, a term coined by artist Allan Kaprow, were performative events meant to include audience members as participants. 4 Starting in the 1970s, Oliveros composed text scores and sound exercises, eventually adding movement activities into her scores. Originally produced for her women’s group, by the late 1990s her experimental “Meditations” grew to worldwide acclaim as a tool for healing. Kerry O’Brien, “Listening as Activism: The ‘Sonic Meditations’ of Pauline Oliveros,” The New Yorker, December 9, 2016. 5 Parker has discussed Oliveros’ work as a source of inspiration for his studies of ASMR. Steve Parker, conversation with the author, September 18, 2019. 6 The Ghost Army used creative tactics to deceive and redirect German troops, including the use of dummy inflatable tanks, amplifying the sounds of tanks rolling or troops marching, and broadcasting fake radio transmissions. Due to the skilled and cunning nature of the shadow unit’s tasks, many artists were recruited to participate. Steve Parker, conversation with the author, September 18, 2019. 7 Bishop, 12.
This essay was written as part of the Art Critic Mentoring Program, a partnership between AICA-USA (US section of International Association of Art Critics) and CUE, which pairs emerging writers with AICA-USA mentors to produce original essays on a specific exhibiting artist. Please visit aicausa.org for more information on AICA-USA, or cueartfoundation.org to learn how to participate in this program. Any quotes are from interviews with the author unless otherwise specified. No part of this essay may be reproduced without prior consent from the author. Lilly Wei is AICA’s Coordinator for the program this season.
Lilia Rocio Taboada is an independent Austin-based writer and curator. Previously, she has held positions in the Education Department at the Hammer Museum and in the Curatorial Departments at the Blanton Museum of Art, The Studio Museum in Harlem, the Museum of Modern Art, and the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, where she was an inaugural Andrew W. Mellon Undergraduate Curatorial Fellow. Taboada earned her MA in Art History from the University of Texas at Austin and her BA in World Arts and Cultures from the University of California, Los Angeles.
Mentor Thomas Micchelli is an artist, writer, and co-editor of Hyperallergic Weekend. His work has been exhibited at John Davis Gallery in Hudson, New York; Life on Mars, Outlet, Norte Maar, Studio 10, Centotto, and Schema Projects, all in Bushwick, Brooklyn; and Leslie Heller Workspace in Manhattan. He has written catalogue essays for Kunsthall Stavanger (Stavanger, Norway); ARoS Aarhus Art Museum (Aarhus, Denmark); The Drawing Center, Cheim & Read, Betty Cuningham, and Derek Eller (New York); and Visual Arts Center of New Jersey (Summit, NJ), among others. In addition to Hyperallergic Weekend, his essays, interviews, and reviews have appeared in the Brooklyn Rail, Art 21, Bookforum.com, and elsewhere. He is also the co-editor of the books On Curating: Interviews with Ten International Curators (DAP, 2009) and On Curating 2: Paradigm Shifts (DAP, 2016).
29
or performer. As with his sound works, Parker offers a participatory tool, but leaves interpretation open to the viewer’s aural or physical response. The ghostly presence of choice serves as a reminder of the participation that is necessary to complete each work. The scores remain static, yet they contain the potential for agency if someone were to read the notations and take action. Bishop remarks that “shared production is also seen to entail the aesthetic benefits of greater risk and unpredictability.”7 By inviting viewers to complete his work, Parker encourages an unpredictable outcome created through their participation in and interpretation of an arts experience. Functioning in a time of information overload and surveillance culture, Parker creates a moment of controlled choice for the participant, setting aside his control over interpretation. Moreover, the presence of sound and Parker’s encouragement to listen closely is a remarkable lesson and sonic break from the hustle and bustle of the outside world. Whether through sound, objects, or notations, Futurist Listening invites the visitor to imagine potential in what is heard, seen, and felt—a welcome shift from a cultural climate imposing a limited range of possible futures.
28
1 Claire Bishop, “Introduction: Viewers as Producers,” in Claire Bishop, ed., Participation (Whitechapel Ventures Limited: London, 2006), 11. 2 Bishop, ibid. 3 From the late 1950s onward, artists around the world began to experiment with interactive and interdisciplinary art practices. The Fluxus movement, for example, involved international artists, composers, designers, and poets in plastic and performative works emphasizing the exchange between artist and audience. Likewise, Happenings, a term coined by artist Allan Kaprow, were performative events meant to include audience members as participants. 4 Starting in the 1970s, Oliveros composed text scores and sound exercises, eventually adding movement activities into her scores. Originally produced for her women’s group, by the late 1990s her experimental “Meditations” grew to worldwide acclaim as a tool for healing. Kerry O’Brien, “Listening as Activism: The ‘Sonic Meditations’ of Pauline Oliveros,” The New Yorker, December 9, 2016. 5 Parker has discussed Oliveros’ work as a source of inspiration for his studies of ASMR. Steve Parker, conversation with the author, September 18, 2019. 6 The Ghost Army used creative tactics to deceive and redirect German troops, including the use of dummy inflatable tanks, amplifying the sounds of tanks rolling or troops marching, and broadcasting fake radio transmissions. Due to the skilled and cunning nature of the shadow unit’s tasks, many artists were recruited to participate. Steve Parker, conversation with the author, September 18, 2019. 7 Bishop, 12.
This essay was written as part of the Art Critic Mentoring Program, a partnership between AICA-USA (US section of International Association of Art Critics) and CUE, which pairs emerging writers with AICA-USA mentors to produce original essays on a specific exhibiting artist. Please visit aicausa.org for more information on AICA-USA, or cueartfoundation.org to learn how to participate in this program. Any quotes are from interviews with the author unless otherwise specified. No part of this essay may be reproduced without prior consent from the author. Lilly Wei is AICA’s Coordinator for the program this season.
Lilia Rocio Taboada is an independent Austin-based writer and curator. Previously, she has held positions in the Education Department at the Hammer Museum and in the Curatorial Departments at the Blanton Museum of Art, The Studio Museum in Harlem, the Museum of Modern Art, and the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, where she was an inaugural Andrew W. Mellon Undergraduate Curatorial Fellow. Taboada earned her MA in Art History from the University of Texas at Austin and her BA in World Arts and Cultures from the University of California, Los Angeles.
Mentor Thomas Micchelli is an artist, writer, and co-editor of Hyperallergic Weekend. His work has been exhibited at John Davis Gallery in Hudson, New York; Life on Mars, Outlet, Norte Maar, Studio 10, Centotto, and Schema Projects, all in Bushwick, Brooklyn; and Leslie Heller Workspace in Manhattan. He has written catalogue essays for Kunsthall Stavanger (Stavanger, Norway); ARoS Aarhus Art Museum (Aarhus, Denmark); The Drawing Center, Cheim & Read, Betty Cuningham, and Derek Eller (New York); and Visual Arts Center of New Jersey (Summit, NJ), among others. In addition to Hyperallergic Weekend, his essays, interviews, and reviews have appeared in the Brooklyn Rail, Art 21, Bookforum.com, and elsewhere. He is also the co-editor of the books On Curating: Interviews with Ten International Curators (DAP, 2009) and On Curating 2: Paradigm Shifts (DAP, 2016).
29
CUE Art Foundation is a visual arts center dedicated to creating essential career and educational opportunities for artists of all ages. Through exhibitions, arts education, and public programs, CUE provides artists, writers, and audiences with sustaining, meaningful experiences and resources. CUE’s exhibition program aims to present new and exceptionally strong work by under-recognized and emerging artists based in the United States, and is committed to exhibiting work of all disciplines.
This exhibition is a winning selection from the 2019-20 Open Call for Solo Exhibitions. The proposal was unanimously selected by a panel comprised of curator Marcela Guerrero, artist and critic David Humphrey, curator Michelle Yun, and curator Daniel J Sander. In line with CUE’s commitment to providing substantive professional development opportunities, panelists also serve as mentors to the exhibiting artists, providing support throughout the process of developing the exhibition. We are honored to work with Marcela Guerrero as the curatormentor to Steve Parker.
BOARD OF DIRECTORS
ADVISORY COUNCIL
Theodore S. Berger Kate Buchanan Vernon Church Marcy Cohen Blake Horn Thomas K.Y. Hsu Steffani Jemison John S. Kiely Vivian Kuan Lionel Leventhal Rachel Maniatis Christen Martosella Aliza Nisenbaum Kyle Sheahen Lilly Wei Gregory Amenoff, Emeritus
Polly Apfelbaum Katie Cercone Lynn Crawford Ian Cooper Michelle Grabner Eleanor Heartney Trenton Doyle Hancock Pablo Helguera Paddy Johnson Deborah Kass Sharon Lockhart Juan Sánchez Lilly Wei Andrea Zittel Irving Sandler (in memoriam)
STAFF Corina Larkin
Executive Director Beatrice Wolert-Weese Deputy Director
Lilly Hern-Fondation Programs Manager Sharmistha Ray
Development Manager Josephine Heston
Programs Associate
30
31
CUE Art Foundation is a visual arts center dedicated to creating essential career and educational opportunities for artists of all ages. Through exhibitions, arts education, and public programs, CUE provides artists, writers, and audiences with sustaining, meaningful experiences and resources. CUE’s exhibition program aims to present new and exceptionally strong work by under-recognized and emerging artists based in the United States, and is committed to exhibiting work of all disciplines.
This exhibition is a winning selection from the 2019-20 Open Call for Solo Exhibitions. The proposal was unanimously selected by a panel comprised of curator Marcela Guerrero, artist and critic David Humphrey, curator Michelle Yun, and curator Daniel J Sander. In line with CUE’s commitment to providing substantive professional development opportunities, panelists also serve as mentors to the exhibiting artists, providing support throughout the process of developing the exhibition. We are honored to work with Marcela Guerrero as the curatormentor to Steve Parker.
BOARD OF DIRECTORS
ADVISORY COUNCIL
Theodore S. Berger Kate Buchanan Vernon Church Marcy Cohen Blake Horn Thomas K.Y. Hsu Steffani Jemison John S. Kiely Vivian Kuan Lionel Leventhal Rachel Maniatis Christen Martosella Aliza Nisenbaum Kyle Sheahen Lilly Wei Gregory Amenoff, Emeritus
Polly Apfelbaum Katie Cercone Lynn Crawford Ian Cooper Michelle Grabner Eleanor Heartney Trenton Doyle Hancock Pablo Helguera Paddy Johnson Deborah Kass Sharon Lockhart Juan Sánchez Lilly Wei Andrea Zittel Irving Sandler (in memoriam)
STAFF Corina Larkin
Executive Director Beatrice Wolert-Weese Deputy Director
Lilly Hern-Fondation Programs Manager Sharmistha Ray
Development Manager Josephine Heston
Programs Associate
30
31
CUE Art Foundation's programs are made possible with the generous support of foundations, government agencies, corporations, and individuals. MAJOR PROGRAMMATIC SUPPORT PROVIDED BY Anholt Services (USA), Inc. Aon PLC Chubb
Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton LLP Clifford Chance
Compass Group Management LLC Merrill Corporation
The Milton and Sally Avery Arts Foundation, Inc. The Shelley and Donald Rubin Foundation
New York State Council on the Arts with the support of Governor Andrew Cuomo and the New York State Legislature
This program is supported, in part, by public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs, in partnership with the City Council This project is supported in part by an award from the National Endowment for the Arts
All ar twork Š Steve Parker. Ar twork photography by Sarah Frankie Linder unless otherwise noted. Catalogue design by Lilly Hern-Fondation. 32
33
CUE Art Foundation's programs are made possible with the generous support of foundations, government agencies, corporations, and individuals. MAJOR PROGRAMMATIC SUPPORT PROVIDED BY Anholt Services (USA), Inc. Aon PLC Chubb
Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton LLP Clifford Chance
Compass Group Management LLC Merrill Corporation
The Milton and Sally Avery Arts Foundation, Inc. The Shelley and Donald Rubin Foundation
New York State Council on the Arts with the support of Governor Andrew Cuomo and the New York State Legislature
This program is supported, in part, by public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs, in partnership with the City Council This project is supported in part by an award from the National Endowment for the Arts
All ar twork Š Steve Parker. Ar twork photography by Sarah Frankie Linder unless otherwise noted. Catalogue design by Lilly Hern-Fondation. 32
33