Toward Listening as a Curatorial Method: Histories, Methodologies, Propositions by Liora Belford A thesis submitted in conformity with the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Art History Art History University of Toronto © Copyright by Liora Belford 2021 Toward Listening as a Curatorial Method: Histories, Methodologies, Propositions Liora Belford Doctor of Philosophy in Art History Art History University of Toronto 2021 Abstract From the 1960s through the 1980s, an ever-expanding exploration of sound occurred within the visual arts field, helping give birth to sound art (and its exhibition) as a unique genre. The number of sound art exhibitions has grown exponentially over time, reaching into major art institutions. Building on information gathered about more than 250 sound art group exhibitions from the 1960s to the present, involving works made by a number of artists/musicians, I recognized three main approaches for curating sound: The sonic image, the exhibition as spatial music, and musical composition for visual objects. This dissertation follows these three sound curating methodologies, their histories, and the propositions and influence they have contributed to the production, positioning, and reception of sound in art today. I start with a question: Why does the most common method for displaying multiple sound works (or works with sound) within the same gallery space invariably involve constraining these sounds with acoustic barriers to keep them separate? I maintain that this separation of sounds in museums follows how we see, and not how we hear. I argue that this method, which I have termed the “sonic image,” is made in order to ‘help’ us experience sound works as we do visual objects—to hear a sound only when we see it. ii Since the sonic turn of the 1990s a few composers curated sound art group shows demonstrating an auditory approach to sound curation: the “exhibition as spatial music.” Composing exhibitions as spatial music means addressing sound’s materiality and applying listening philosophies into the intricacies of the exhibitionary. In doing so, these composers composed exhibitions which—like music—stimulate an inner subjective space within the listener. The third methodology—the “musical composition for visual objects”—belongs to John Cage, who composed three compositions for museum later in his life. By relating to objects as musical notes, and curating by using a musical score, Cage’s exhibitions demonstrate that listening should not be limited to the sphere of sound, and thus methodologies informed by auditory perception can stimulate multiple layers of perception in the gallery. iii Acknowledgments My most sincere gratitude and appreciation go out to my supervisory committee: Professor Elizabeth Legge, Professor Barbara Fischer, and Professor Joseph Clarke. Through their ideas, kindness, and guidance, each in their own special way have been invaluable to my research. My deepest gratitude goes also to the composers and artists I had the privilege to work with throughout this research, specifically Michael Snow and Amnon Wolman, who allowed me to think about sound curating by composing their sounds into exhibitions—thank you for your trust and generosity. I would also like to acknowledge Julie Lazar, Los Angeles MOCA’s adjunct curator— who worked with John Cage on Rolywholyover A Circus—as well as Laura Kuhn, the director of the John Cage Trust, for the ongoing help and support each gave me over the years. Lastly, to my family, near and far, and especially to my parents, who taught me to never give up on a dream: I miss you, this is all due to you. iv Table of Contents Acknowledgments.......................................................................................................................... iv Table of Contents .............................................................................................................................v List of Figures ............................................................................................................................... vii List of Appendices ........................................................................................................................ xii Introduction: Theoretical Background and Chapter Layout ............................................................1 Chapter 1 The Sonic Image (or Why Are We All Too Familiar with Headphones Attached to a Wall?) .....................................................................................................................................21 Sound Entering the Gallery: The Musical Score, Art-by-Instructions, and Experimental Music in the Gallery ..................................................................................................................21 From the 1960s to 1980s: A Brief History of Sound Art Curating ...........................................29 2.1 The 1960s: Artists (and Curators) Experimenting with the New Medium, Sound ............29 2.2 The 1970s: Reconsidering the Elusiveness of Sound ........................................................45 2.3 From the 1980s on: Manifesting Sound Art as Visual Art ................................................53 The Control of the Visual Experience of the World and the Taming of Sound in the Exhibitory ..................................................................................................................................61 The Separation of the Senses and the Museum as a Silent Chamber........................................69 Chapter 2 The Exhibition as Spatial Music (or the Composer as Curator) ...................................74 Spatial Music and the Composer as Designer of Space ............................................................75 5.1 The Philips Pavilion (1958) ...............................................................................................76 5.2 West German Pavilion (1970) ...........................................................................................83 5.3 The Pepsi Pavilion (1970) ..................................................................................................88 Spatial Music and the Composer as Curator .............................................................................97 6.1 The Exhibition as a Musical Installation ...........................................................................98 6.2 The Exhibition as a Musical Performance .......................................................................112 6.3 The Exhibition as a Sound Walk .....................................................................................121 Listening to Snow ...................................................................................................................132 v Chapter 3 (John Cage’s) Musical Compositions for Visual Objects ...........................................147 John Cage in the Gallery – Making the Abstract Tangible .....................................................148 Changing Installation, 1991; museumcircle, 1991; Rolywholyover A Circus, 1991–95 .....154 9.1 museumcircle, 1991 .........................................................................................................154 9.2 Changing Installation, 1991 ............................................................................................157 9.3 Rolywholyover A Circus 1991–1995 .............................................................................161 Emptiness/Nothingness/Silence—Cage’s Exhibitions as the Evolution of His Silence .........168 10.1 4'33'' (1952) .....................................................................................................................169 10.2 0'00'' (1962) .....................................................................................................................175 10.3 Emptiness – Cage’s Compositions for Museum ..............................................................181 museumcircle: Cage’s Space Adaptation of Duchamp’s music (Erratum Musicale, 1913)...183 Conclusion: Listening as a Curatorial Method ............................................................................200 References ....................................................................................................................................215 Appendix (A): John Cage, museumcircle (1991), List of Instructions ........................................225 Copyright Acknowledgements.....................................................................................................226 vi List of Figures Figure 1: Installation, Volume Bed of Sound (2000), MoMA PS1, New York............................... 3 Figure 2: Michael Snow, Diagonale (1988), Listening to Snow, 2020 ........................................ 15 Figure 3: Steve Reich, Pendulum Music (1968), Four Evenings of Extended Time Pieces and a Lecture—part of the programming for the exhibition Anti Illusion: Procedures/ Materials, Whitney Museum (1968). ............................................................................................................. 28 Figure 4: Al Hansen, Happening, performed at 11-18-66 at Sound, Light, and Silence: Art that Performs (1966) ............................................................................................................................ 31 Figure 5: 9 Evenings: Theatre & Engineering (1966) .................................................................. 33 Figure 6: Robert Rauschenberg, Open Score (1966), 9 Evenings: Theatre & Engineering, 196634