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For her second exhibition at Matt's Gallery, Imogen Stidworthy has developed a new work which focuses on the act of listening to reflect on how we locate ourselves and are positioned in social space. In (.) listening moves fluidly between a state of being and an act, between immersion in and scrutiny of people through their voices.
The installation organises the gallery into spaces related to the office and city streets through different forms of image, inviting the viewer to move through different places and subject positions. Subjective and political implications of the voice are reflected in the installation through the figure of Sacha van Loo, who is employed by Antwerp Police to analyse wiretap recordings. Having been blind since birth, for him the world is understood and pictured primarily through sound and his finely tuned listening connects him to others with unusual sensitivity; fluent in seven languages, he is able to recognise hundreds of different accents and dialects. In his job these powers are part of the bureaucratic process of determining guilt or innocence; sifting through scraps of language he decodes speech and designates voices, identities and intentions, blurring the borders between private and public space.
In the installation we hear the text-to-speech voice of Sacha's computer as he searches through files, the murmur of deciphering (screen 2, 3-channel audio), and passing voices which were recorded from his body as he walked through busy city streets (circular booth, 4-channel composition). City streets are seen in a 3D laser scan, a 'point cloud' of millions of positions in space giving a precise mapping of the terrain (screen 1). These use a technology based on sonar, a principle closer to hearing than to vision - a real-life fantasy of territorial knowledge.
A splinter of fiction enters this factual scenario in a passage from Solzhenitsin's novel In the First Circle. In the book a group of imprisoned Soviet scientists and linguists have been commanded by Stalin to develop two machines: a voice scrambler designed to turn sense into nonsense, to protect his personal telephone line, and a voice-printing machine to identify people through paper print-outs made from covert voice recordings.
At the heart of the work is a tension between observation and interpretation, detachment or immersion. Different forms of image which are made and perceived according to different paradigms, open out to a broader question regarding the nature of the image itself, which is present less as a given language than as a process of formation.
With Sasha van Loo
Camera: Ben de Wandel, Imogen Stidworthy
Sound recording: Johan Vandermaelen
Video and sound editing: Imogen Stidworthy
Multi-channel sound editing: Christian Hildebrand, Imogen Stidworthy
Thanks to SEP Engineering
Generously supported by
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Biography
Born 1963, British. Lives and works in Liverpool
Studied
2014–2018 Malmö Art Academy, Lunds University, SE (PhD Programme in Fine Arts);
1992–1994 Jan van Eyck Academy, Maastricht, NL (Postgraduate Studies in Fine Art);
1984–1987 West Surrey College of Art and Design, UK (BA Hons Fine Art, first class)
Solo Exhibitions
2015
Imogen Stidworthy, IWM Contemporary, Imperial War Museum, London
2014
Balayer – A Map of Sweeping, Sao Paolo Bienal, Brazil;
Introduction to Bliss for Two Voices with Chorus part 2, Liverpool Biennial, Tate Liverpool, Liverpool;
The Voice and the Lens, Whitechapel Art Gallery, London;
Introduction to Bliss for Two Voices with Chorus part 1, RADAR, Loughborough University, Loughborough
2013
Volumes of Stone, Galerie Raum mit Licht, Vienna;
Sacha, Galerie AKINCI, Amsterdam
2011
(.), Matt’s Gallery, London
2010
The Work, Kunstpavillon, Innsbruck, Austria;
Imogen Stidworthy, Arnolfini, Bristol;
Barrabackslarrabang, AKINCI, Amsterdam
2009 Audio/photo installation
The Work, installed in waiting room no 1, Loughborough Railway Station, commissioned by RADAR, Loughborough University
2008
Die Lucky Bush curatorial project, MuHKA (Museum of Contemporary Art, Antwerp
2006
Get Here, Galerie Hohelohe, Vienna
2005
Imogen Stidworthy, FRAC Bourgogne, Dijon;
Audio Cab, temporary public art work installed in taxi cabs in Luton, UK
2003
The Whisper Heard, Matt’s Gallery, London
2002
Dummy, Netherlands Film Museum, Amsterdam;
Substitutes, Gallery K&S, Berlin;
o.T., Akademie Schloss Solitude, Stuttgart, Germany
2000
closing/close by, Spacex Gallery, Exeter
1998
Filmblik, Haags Filmhuis, Den Haag, NL
1997
To, Hedah, Maastricht, NL
1996
Elocution, De Vaalseberg, Rotterdam, NL
1995
Clitic, Plateau, Brussels
1991
Transparent Thing, Cambridge Darkroom Gallery, Cambridge
Selected Group Exhibitions
2015
Listening, Hayward Touring Exhibition, Site Gallery, Sheffield;
Norwich University of the Arts Gallery, Norwich (and in 2014: Baltic 39, Newcastle; Bluecoat, Liverpool)
2014
Listening, Hayward Touring Exhibition, Baltic 39, Newcastle; Bluecoat, Liverpool;
Site Gallery, Sheffield;
Norwich University of the Arts Gallery, Norwich;
Passages, Akinci, Amsterdam;
The Vigilant Eye, The Bluecoat, Liverpool;
Itself Not So, Lisa Cooley Gallery, New York
2013
Monday Begins on Saturday, Bergen Assembly, Bergen;
Tip of the Iceberg, Contemporary Arts Society, London;
About the House / Silence Turned into Objects, WH Auden House, Kirschtetten, Austria; AKINCI, Istanbul International;
The Character of a Collection, Museum of Contemporary Art, Antwerp;
Acts of Voicing, Total Museum of Contemporary Art, Seoul, South Korea;
How to Tell a Story, DEPO, Istanbul;
2012
Garden of Learning, Busan Biennale, Busan, South Korea;
Time and Again, AKINCI, Amsterdam;
The Voice and the Lens, Ikon Gallery, Birmingham;
Acts of Voicing, Würtemburgischer Kunstverrein, Stuttgart;
El Hilo de Ariadne (Ariadne’s Thread), La Casa del Lector, Matadero, Madrid;
Paraphrasing Babel, Viewmaster Foundation, Maastricht;
Niet Normaal. Difference on Display, Bluecoat, Liverpool;
Language Lessons, LUX online exhibition, curated by Ben Cook
2011
It’s time we got to know each other, 52nd October Salon, Belgrade, Serbia;
Terminal Convention, Static, Liverpool;
I will talk with anyone who will talk with me, City Gallery, Leicester;
Ten Women who use Film curated by Jennifer Higgie, UbuWeb;
Ruins Recycled, AKINCI, Amsterdam;
Off the Record, Resonance FM, London;
Terminal Convention, Cork International Airport, Cork, Ireland;
Les Rencontres Internationales, film selection at Haus der Kunst der Welt, Berlin; Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris; Reine Sophia, Madrid
2010
The Eternal Tour, Silwan, East Jerusalem;
No Longer Empty, Liverpool Biennial, Liverpool;
Signals, Museums of Bat Yam, Israel;
Korean International Art Fair, Seoul;
Life: a Users Manual, Art Sheffield, Sheffield
2009
Niet Normaal - Difference on Display Beurs van Beurlage, Amsterdam;
XXX Get off at Edge Hill Metal, Liverpool;
See This Sound Lentos Museum, Linz, Austria; Zacherlfabrik, Vienna;
Soundmuseum.fm Arco, Madrid, Spain
2008
Next Up The Bluecoat, Liverpool;
What I Hear in Powerplant, Liverpool;
Shrinking Cities Cube, Manchester;
Moves 08 Festival of Movement on Screen
2007
documenta 12, Kassel;
LOOP Art Fair, Barcelona, Spain;
Thessaloniki Bienniale;
Vienna Art Fair;
2006
Walk On, Shanghai Bienniale;
Spool, Het Consortium, Amsterdam, NL;
Rogue Wave, FACT, Liverpool, UK;
36 Seconds, BBC Big Screen, Liverpool, UK
2005
7AM, Frieze Art Fair: Artists Cinema, touring UK cinemas Jan-March;
SENEF, 6th Seoul Net and Film Festival, Korea;
Be What You Want but Stay Where You Are, Witte de With, Rotterdam, NL;
Dutch - non Dutch, Van Abbe Museum, Eindhoven, NL;
murmur, TENT centre for contemporary art, Rotterdam
2004
How do we Want to be Governed, Art Central, Miami;
Shrinking Cities, Kunst-Werke, Berlin;
Becks Futures, Institute of Contemporary Arts, London and Centre for Contemporary Art, Glasgow;
With Hidden Noise, Henry Moore Institute, Leeds;
Versions, Kunsthal Bergen, Norway
2003
Lux Open, Royal College of Art, London;
Programme of 16mm short films, LUX, London
2002
ALEX, Galerie Jan Mot/Argos, Brussels;
The Pleasure of Language, Netherlands Institute for New Media, Amsterdam;
Say Hello, Wave Goodbye, Gallery Hohenlohe & Kalb, Vienna;
Commitment, Las Palmas, Rotterdam
2001
Biennale de l’Image en Mouvement, St Gervais, Geneva;
Power and the Subject, The Central House of Artists, Moscow;
Exploding Cinema, Museum Boymans van Beuningen, Rotterdam, NL
2000
Desperate Optimists, Festival aan de Werf, Utrecht, NL;
closing/close by, Video Positive, Open Eye Gallery, Liverpool
1999
Searchlight; Consciousness at the Millenium, CCAC, San Francisco;
Verbindingen/Jonctions, Fondation pour l’Architecture, Brussels;
Fantasy Jacoba IV, Kote Kanal, Brussels;
and... and... and..., Het Consortium, Amsterdam
1998
Adventurers, Cartographers, Storytellers, Fundacio la Caixa, Barcelona;
Nexus, Ars Electronica, Linz, Austria;
52nd Edinburgh Film Festival, Scotland;
Biennale de l’Image, Centre Nationale de la Photographie, Paris
1997
To, as part of World Wide Video Festival, Stedelijk Bureau Amsterdam;
Fenêtre sur cour, Galerie Almine Rech, Paris;
Prix de Rome Exhibition, Netherlands Photo Institute, Rotterdam
1996
Up Close and Personal, Philadelphia Museum of Modern Art, USA;
New York Video Festival, Lincoln Centre, New York;
Foriegn Bodies, Museum für Gegenwartskunst, Basel, Switzerland;
Erasa una vez... Del Minimum al Caberet, Teatro Central, Seville, Spain
1995
Auto Reverse, Saint Gervais, Geneva;
International Video Festival, Reina Sophia, Madrid;
Points de Vue, Images d’Europe, Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris; Palais des Beaux Arts, Brussels; MUKHA, Antwerp
1994
Achteinhalb (Eight and a Half), Raum Aktueller Kunst, Vienna;
Steierischer Herbstes, Graz, Austria;
Monolith, Lettered Rock, Witte de With, Rotterdam
Collections
Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris;
FRAC Bourgogne, Dijon;
MuHKA (Museum for Contemporary Art), Antwerp;
Private collections in Holland and Israel
Awards
Becks Futures 2004;
Prix de Rome 1996, The Netherlands
Residencies
2008-2009
Instituto Buena Bista (IBB), Curacao
2001-2002
Akademie Schloss Solitude, Stuttgart, Germany
Commissions
2009
RADAR, Loughborough University, UK
2008
What I Hear Powerplant, audio installation in Calderstones Park, Liverpool
2006
Rogue Wave 10.2 surround sound commission, FACT, Liverpool
2005
Art in Historic Places: temporary public art work at Dunstable Downs and De Bray Mausoleum, Bedfordshire, commissioned by English Heritage and The National Trust;
Amovie short film commissioned by Film London (through SpaceX Exeter and LUX, London), distributed in cinemas nationwide January-April 2006
2000-2002
Public commission for a permanent video installation at the new regional administration building, Steiermark, Murau, Austria. Architect: Wolfgang Tschapeller,Vienna
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Bibliography
Selected articles/essays
2015
C. James Fagan, The Double Negative, February
2014
Samuel Draxler, New York Performance Artists Collective, August;
Thomas Micchelli, Hyperallergic, August
2013
Q&A with Imogen Stidworthy, KUNSTforum, September;
2011
Michelle Robechi, Flashart, July‐Sept;
Isabel Stevens, The Wire, August;
Laura Mclean-Ferris, Art Monthly, July;
John Gayer, Terminal Convention, Art Papers, June;
Michaële Cutaya, Terminal Convention, Shower of Kunst, May
2010
Imogen Stidworthy: Life in Film, Frieze, May
Art Sheffield 2010, review by Colin Perry, Frieze Magazine, Feb issue
2007
Imogen Stidworthy, review of Get Here at Galerie Hohenlohe, Vienna, by Nicole Scheyerer, Frieze Magazine issue 106
2004
Proto-Pratter, Sarat Maharaj, [b/w illustrations], ‘Migrating Images, producing… reading… transporting… translating’, pub. Haus der Kulturen der Welt
2003
Further on I listened back, Kelly Large, ‘Static Pamphlet’ online magazine (www.static-ops.org/pamphlet.htm), December, pub. Static, Liverpool
2002
Parallel Thoughts on the work of Imogen Stidworthy, Manon de Boer, [b/w illustrations], Newspaper Galerie Jan Mot no. 5, Brussels
1998
Pause… I don’t think I can do anything, Edith Doove, [6pp, colour illustrations], Archis magazine of architecture, city, visual culture, issue no. 12, December
Catalogues 2010
Signals, Danna Taggart, Bat Yam Museums;
Niet normaal. Diversiteit in kunst, wetenschap & samenleving, text by Nancy Hoffmann, Ed. Ine Gevers. NAi Publishers, Rotterdam and Stichting Niet Normaal, Rotterdam
2009
See This Sound, Promises in Sound and Vision, Lentos Museum, Linz, Walter Konig, Koln
2008
Northern Art Prize catalogue, text by Paul Sullivan, Leeds Art Gallery
2007
Documenta 12 catalogue, text by Manuella Ammer. Taschen, Koln
2005
How do we Want to be Governed (Figure and Ground) Text by Maria Moreira, Eds. Roger Buergel and Ruth Noack, Miami Art Central, US
2004
Imogen Stidworthy How do we Want to be Governed, text by Maria Moreira, 180pp, colour;
With Hidden Noise, text by Aura Satz, 52pp, hardback, colour, ed. Penelope Curtis, pub. The Henry Moore Institute;
Becks Futures, interview and texts, 48pp, colour, pub. ICA London
2001
Rotterdam International Film Festival 2001
2000
Etablissements d’en Face, 20pp, b&w, text by Eva Gonzalez-Sancho;
Narradors d’istoria, 60pp, colour, text by Andrew Webb, pub. Fundacio la Caixa, Barcelona
1999
Searchlight, 120pp, colour, pub. Thames and Hudson, London;
Nexus, text by Joanna Schwanberg, 150pp, colour, pub. Springer, New York
1998
Space Explorations, a survey of the work of Space Explorations from 1987-97, 150pp, colour, essay; pub. Space Explorations London;
de Tres Courts Espaces de Temps, text by Adriaan Himmelreich, 110pp, colour, pub. Centre Nationale de la Photographie, Paris;
Filmblik, 20pp, b&w, pub. by Haags Filmhuis/Najaar, Den Haag
1997 Stedelijk Bureau Amsterdam
brochure no. 32, interview with Maxine Kopsa, b&w illustrations, pub. SMBA, Amsterdam;
Fenêtre sur cours, text by Stephanie Moisdonl, colour illustrations, pub. Galerie Almine Rech, Paris
1996
Points de vue; images d’europe, text by Stephanie Moisdon, duotone, pub. Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris
Publications
2011
Artists book: workgin title In the First Circle, contributions from Caroline Bergvall, Mladen Dolar, Werner Feiersinger, Aglaia Konrad, Alphonso Lingis, Sarat Maharaj and Willem Oorebeek, by Matt's Gallery, London and Jan van Eyck Academy, The Netherlands
2008
Die Lucky Bush, MuKHA, Antwerp
2003
closing/close by, DVD art work and artist’s book, 32pp, colour, essay by Chris Darke, pub. Film and Video Umbrella, London
Contributions to publications
2010
Life in Film: Imogen Stidworthy, Frieze Magazine, April issue; Interview: a conversation between Caroline Bergvall and Imogen Stidworthy,
Caroline Bergvall: Middling English, John Hansard Gallery;
Bread and Butter Pudding, Blantyre, Malawi, in
Food for Thought: Thought for Food Ed. Richard Hamilton and Vicent Todoli, Actar;
Interview with Imogen Stidworthy, in
Art in a City Revisited Ed. Bryan Biggs, Liverpool University Press;
The Anxiety of the Next Work in
Anxiety of Creativity: Possible Worlds (papers from the conference) Ghuanghzuo Triennale, Published Works, Dublin;
Topography of a Voice in
Urbanmakers, Parallel Narratives on Grassrotts Practices and Tensions', Ed. Emanuele Guidi, b_Books, Berlin
2008
The Back of the Head in
Playing with Words, The Spoken Word in Artistic Practice Ed. Cathy Lane, co-published by RGAP and CRiSAP, London;
The Whiper Heard, transcript of a roundtable discussion in
Resonant Bodies, Voices, Memories Eds. Anke Bangma, Deirdre M Donoghue, Lina Issa, Katarina Zdjelar. b_Books, Berlin
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