VOLUMES

In 2011, The Ringling embraced the light with the creation of the James Turrell Skyspace, Joseph’s Coat. Using space, color, and light as his medium, Turrell is referred to as a sculptor of light and visitors can now experience the artist’s fascination with the revelation of light in what has become a gathering place for quiet contemplation. In a gallery adjacent to the Skyspace an exhibition on the Art of Our Time, featuring contemporary art from the museum’s permanent collection, is on display where a sound sculpture by the Swiss artist, Zimoun, is featured exploring the graceful, mechanized works of structural simplicity, while manipulating the use of sound.

This summer, just across the Museum of Art courtyard, light and sound are joined in a special installation by artist Ezra Masch. VOLUMES harnesses the speed of light to reveal the volume of sound and space. Opening on Sunday, August 12, 2018, this immersive project will feature a three- dimensional grid of LED lights that will fill the interior of The Ringling’s Monda Gallery of Contemporary Art with an iridescent glow.

With this project, I wanted to establish a direct connection between the process of creating music and the process of creating visual art. I chose to do it with a drum set because it’s an instrument that I’m intimately familiar with. It also puts a contemporary spin on an age-old idea. – Ezra Masch

Contact microphones will be wired from a basic drum set to custom mixers that will divide the audio into multiple ranges of volume. Dimensions of height, length, and width will then be used to map coordinates of tone and amplitude within the grid of lights. Essentially, Masch has created a symbiotic relationship between light and sound— one cannot see the piece unless they can hear it, and vice versa. The 50 percussionists scheduled to play Volumes will be able to experiment with the visual patterns and forms generated in the lights as they perform. Volume and pitch will determine the number of lights that flicker, so each drummer will have to play the light as much as they play the physical drum set.

“I like bringing other people into my work as either participants or collaborators because it adds an element of chance. In this case, the drummers will be contributing creatively to the project. I have no idea what’s going to happen, and that’s one of the things that makes it so exciting,” remarked Masch.

Seeking to cultivate a new way of understanding and translating the volume of sound to the volume of space, Masch has become a sculptor of both light and sound by creating a piece that lies somewhere in between an entirely new instrument and a visual art sculpture. Masch blends elements of sound, light, performance, and engineering into a unique sensory experience that reimagines the traditional notions of stationary sculpture and time-based performance art.