Despite many current exhibitions around the subject of sound in which the focus often lies on the visualisation of sound waves or the technicalities and materiality involved around it, Hlysnan: The Notion and Politics of Listening at Casino Luxembourg departs from the representation and visual rendering of acoustic space and submits the auditory perception for consideration. Rather than displaying works destined for the eyes, the emphasis lies on the immaterial, the non-consumerist and the non-spectacle, in order to achieve a heightened concentration on the targeted sense.
In the Old English word hlysnan, “to listen”, the focus is on the notions of attention and intent: similarly the emphasis in the project Hlysnan: The Notion and Politics of Listening, curated by Berit Fischer and Kevin Muhlen, lies on the active act not merely of hearing – usually referring to automatic or passive sound perception – but rather specifically on listening; hearing with intent.
The exhibition attempts to reconcile audio practices with contemporary social and political realities and invites the visitor to actively experience, listen and engage with the sense of hearing to the various complex interplays. Part of the investigations is for example the vocal gesture in specific situations like political speeches, legal and juridical contexts, or recording techniques and their impact in regard to documentation, writing and (re)creating history, and in the shaping of our culture and reality. The soundscapes and sonorous textures emanating from specific works presented in the exhibition may provoke immediate physical reactions, whereas other audible stimulus may address and question socio-political issues.
Listening requires intensified concentration and attentiveness towards what one is listening to; it is linked to the notion of desire, anticipation and understanding, a striving for a possible meaning. This exhibition understands listening as agency, as gesture, as attitude and as taking a position.
- Artists:
Lawrence Abu HamdanAngie AtmadjajaKader AttiaNina Beier & Marie LundDaniela Brahm & Les SchliesserPeter CusackClare GassonMarco GodinhoChristine Sun KimBrandon LabelleAndra McCartneyJohn MenickAngel Nevarez & Valerie TevereUdo NollEmeka OgbohYoko OnoSusan SchuppliChristine Sullivan & Rob FlintJohn Wynne - Open:
Saturday, 17 May 2014 - Close:
Sunday, 07 September 2014 - Address:
Casino Luxembourg – Forum d‘art contemporain, Rue Notre-Dame 41, L-2240 Luxembourg - Mail:
info@casino-luxembourg.lu - Phone:
+352 22 50 45 - Web:
Casino Luxembourg - Opening hour:
Mon – Fri | 11 am – 7 pm; Sat, Sun, public holidays | 11 am – 6pm - Closing day:
Tuesday - Admission:
Adults (26 – 59 years) 5€; Young people (21 – 25 years), 60+, groups (min. 10 pers.) 3€; Children and students (0 – 25 years) free; Free entrance for Laissez-Passer, muséeskaart, LuxembourgCard, Amis des Musées Luxembourg, AICA, AMGR, ICOM, ICOMOS, IKT, Kulturpass, Press and on Thursday evenings from 6pm to 8 pm - Transport:
By bus: any bus line to Centre Hamilius (Aldringen); By vélo’h: Station 12, Aldringen; By car: Parking Aldringen - Photo credits:
1. Angel Nevarez & Valerie Tevere, What we might have heard in the future, 2010/2014. Installation view at Casino Luxembourg 2014. © Patrick Galbats; 2. John Menick, Subliminal Projection Company, 2009, Installation view at Casino Luxembourg 2014 © Patrick Galbats
