Listening was the third Hayward Touring Curatorial Open. My exhibition set out to investigate the act of listening in contemporary visual art. The exhibition examined the crossover between the visual and the sonic, with many of the artists working in both the fields of contemporary music and art.

Highlights in the exhibition included Hannah Rickards’ Thunder, a clap of thunder that has been stretched in duration and aurally dissected, recreated by musicians and morphed back into a thunderclap; an anechoic chamber by Haroon Mirza that silences the outside world; a dynamic sound installation by Laure Prouvost choreographing a dialogue between lights and objects in a museum; and Prem Sahib’s throbbing inaccessible disco.  Ed Atkins made new drawings in response to Listening; Janet Cardiff and George Bures Miller allowed us to eavesdrop on a drama in cabin in a forest; and Katie Paterson presented the almost inaudible sound of a dying star.

The act of listening touches and folds into the other senses and can therefore work in tandem with, as well as contradict them.  The exhibition included a variety of media from drawings and sculpture to prints and video.  Works ranged dramatically in duration from less than a second to six hours, and were orchestrated so that visitors were guided through the exhibition and works were allowed to ‘speak’ in turn.

Featured artists:

Laurie Anderson, Ed Atkins, Janet Cardiff and George Bures Miller, Mikhail Karikis, Ragnar Kjartansson, Lina Lapelyte, Christian Marclay, Haroon Mirza, Max Neuhaus, Katie Paterson, Amalia Pica, Laure Prouvost, Hannah Rickards, Prem Sahib, Anri Sala, Imogen Stidworthy and Carey Young.

The exhibition toured to the following venues:

BALTIC’s Project Space at BALTIC 39, Newcastle upon Tyne
26 September 2014 – 11 January 2015

The Bluecoat, Liverpool
24 January – 29 March 2015

Site Gallery and Sheffield Institute of Arts gallery
Sheffield 11 April – 31 May 2015

Art Exchange and Firstsite, Colchester
12 December 2015 – 14 February 2016