A lot of the hype around Frieze New York is focused on art that is visual or participatory in nature: the fair packs 192 galleries, a septet of site-specific works (including a functional hotel and spartan rowboat tour around Randall’s Island), and an eyebrow-raising roster of talks. But last night, inside the VIP BMWs that gave guests a lift to the fair, Frieze Sounds 2014 had its premiere—and the audio works of three female artists had their moment to shine.
Curated for the third year in a row by Cecilia Alemani, who is the curator and director of High Line Art and also organizes Frieze Projects, Frieze Sounds presents a distinctively intimate viewing experience, taken in with the ears only. Each work will be available at listening stations throughout Frieze and streamed online. For her part, British artist Cally Spooner overlaid a recording of Lance Armstrong and his masseuse with an off-kilter jazz score that rises to echo the athlete’s progressively complex deceit. Basel-based artist Hannah Weinberger layers the frequency of her unborn child’s heartbeat with noises from natural and synthetic environments. Most intriguing of all is a piece called Constant State of Grace by Israeli-born, New York-based artist Keren Cytter, which claims to send listeners into a state of hypnotized oblivion.
“It only takes four minutes for someone to go into a trance,” Cytter explains. “After that, your brain starts to imitate the sound waves. Sort of like when you [zone out] waiting at a bus stop.” To produce the hypnotic effect, her piece consists of a male and female voice simultaneously reciting a text she wrote, producing the mind-numbing effect of a religious chant. The voices are overlaid with binaural beats—subtle, low-frequency pulsations normally used in meditation. Together, the components are meant to make the listener feel relaxed, vulnerable, spiritual, and eventually, as if she’s reached a “constant state of grace,” where the work gets its name.
“I’ve always been interested in hypnosis,” Cytter says matter-of-factly of her first work of exclusively audio-based art. She also wanted to give Frieze patrons something that wasn’t material, and that would maybe actually lead to some form of enlightenment (even if it happens in the backseat of a luxury sedan). For her, the process of creating it wasn’t far from her usual work as a playwright, film director, and poet: “I wrote and recorded the text, so it’s not that different except there isn’t an image.”
Cytter’s work distinguishes itself by offering art fair attendees, and anyone with an Internet connection, a moment of sweet relief from the cacophony of life. Even if you, like everyone else, are still trying to wrap your head around what sound art is, don’t fret. Just listen.
See more of Opening Ceremony's coverage of Frieze New York
Curated for the third year in a row by Cecilia Alemani, who is the curator and director of High Line Art and also organizes Frieze Projects, Frieze Sounds presents a distinctively intimate viewing experience, taken in with the ears only. Each work will be available at listening stations throughout Frieze and streamed online. For her part, British artist Cally Spooner overlaid a recording of Lance Armstrong and his masseuse with an off-kilter jazz score that rises to echo the athlete’s progressively complex deceit. Basel-based artist Hannah Weinberger layers the frequency of her unborn child’s heartbeat with noises from natural and synthetic environments. Most intriguing of all is a piece called Constant State of Grace by Israeli-born, New York-based artist Keren Cytter, which claims to send listeners into a state of hypnotized oblivion.
“It only takes four minutes for someone to go into a trance,” Cytter explains. “After that, your brain starts to imitate the sound waves. Sort of like when you [zone out] waiting at a bus stop.” To produce the hypnotic effect, her piece consists of a male and female voice simultaneously reciting a text she wrote, producing the mind-numbing effect of a religious chant. The voices are overlaid with binaural beats—subtle, low-frequency pulsations normally used in meditation. Together, the components are meant to make the listener feel relaxed, vulnerable, spiritual, and eventually, as if she’s reached a “constant state of grace,” where the work gets its name.
“I’ve always been interested in hypnosis,” Cytter says matter-of-factly of her first work of exclusively audio-based art. She also wanted to give Frieze patrons something that wasn’t material, and that would maybe actually lead to some form of enlightenment (even if it happens in the backseat of a luxury sedan). For her, the process of creating it wasn’t far from her usual work as a playwright, film director, and poet: “I wrote and recorded the text, so it’s not that different except there isn’t an image.”
Cytter’s work distinguishes itself by offering art fair attendees, and anyone with an Internet connection, a moment of sweet relief from the cacophony of life. Even if you, like everyone else, are still trying to wrap your head around what sound art is, don’t fret. Just listen.
See more of Opening Ceremony's coverage of Frieze New York