"From Here to Ear: Celeste Boursier-Mougenot"
2000-01-29 until 2000-03-26
Contemporary Arts Center
Cincinnati, OH, USA United States of America

Pools of water, singing birds and chiming dishes demonstrate their musical potential, creating a unique symphonic and sensory experience in the work of Céleste Boursier-Mougenot at the Contemporary Arts Center. Boursier-Mougenot is a young French composer who explores the musicality of day-to-day objects and living creatures in constantly evolving installations.

In From Here to Ear, the artist creates a sound environment featuring 40 zebra finches, taut harpsichord strings, wire coat hangers and an amplification system. With these materials, Boursier-Mougenot transforms the gallery into a customized aviary where audience members affect the activity of the birds, which in turn create a variety of sounds by interacting with the harpsichord strings and hangers.

In an untitled work, china bowls, chosen for their resonance, float in large pools of water. Their subtle collisions resemble the ringing of cathedral bells. According to Boursier-Mougenot, A sound installation as I conceive of it is ... the result ... of the visitors' encounter with a sound form and with the system which creates it. Boursier-Mougenot also stresses the importance of the visitors' presence and their experiences with the works, which he feels give them meaning.

Organized by the CAC, this exhibition is Boursier-Mougenot's first in a museum.

Related Links:

From Here to Ear: Celeste Boursier-Mougenot's P.S.1 installation enhances enhances NYC's sound environment by Alan Lockwood

Indepth Arts Resources for the State of Ohio

Other Important Exhibitions in United States