Text by CLOT Magazine
Audiosphere. Sound Experimentation 1980-2020, a new exhibition at Museo Nacional de Arte Reina Sofia in Madrid, looks to cover a historical and cultural void in terms of the recognition, exhibition and analysis of a key part of the recent changes that have taken place in the artistic conception of sound creation. The exhibition is curated by Francisco Lopez, one of the main Spanish sound artists and sound experimentation.
By selecting hundreds of sound works conceived from a social perspective, Audiosphere aims to reveal and provide context to reflect upon and discuss the techno-cultural changes that have occurred since the 1980s. The exhibition will present the work of many experimental sound artists, hailing from worldwide, the majority unknown to the contemporary art spectator.
The show will revolve around seven sections addressing different social, technological, historical and cultural processes: genealogies, networks, mega accessibility, cyborgisation, aesthetogenesis, recombination and rights. Although such processes have been generated collectively and today are widespread, they have not been sufficiently identified, acknowledged or analysed artistically.
Audiosphere thus seeks to constitute a non-conceptual, large-scale contemporary art exhibition with no images or objects, underpinned solely by sound works and an exhibition design that facilitates experiential, profound and prolonged listening. An extensive accompanying exhibition catalogue, with contributions from renowned names, gives a perfect deeper insight into the main topics Audisphere revolves around.
Audiosphere will be open until 11 January 2020.