Musical Thinking: New Video Art and Sonic Strategies

Media - 2020.54.1 - SAAM-2020.54.1_2 - 139600

Cauleen Smith, Sojourner, 2018, digital video, color, sound, 22:41 minutes, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Museum purchase made possible by the SJ Weiler Fund, 2020.54.1, © 2020, Cauleen Smith

Musical Thinking: New Video Art and Sonic Strategies explores the powerful resonances between recent video art and popular music. The exhibition focuses on video art that employs the strategies of musical creation — scores, improvisation, and interpretation — as well as its styles, structures, and lyrics to speak to personal as well as shared aspects of American life. Rich with cultural references and emotionally evocative, the works in the exhibition use music to call up memories, capture attention, provoke insight, and invite visceral engagement. Rather than treating soundtracks as secondary, the musical choices in the featured videos are key to their meaning and impact.

Description

The presentation celebrates major new acquisitions to SAAM’s media art collection. It pairs recently added video works by ADÁL, Raven Chacon, Mariam Ghani, Martine Gutierrez, Arthur Jafa, Erin Ellen Kelly, Christine Sun Kim, Liz Magic Laser, Simone Leigh, and Cauleen Smith with related photographs, sculptures, prints and immersive installations by the same creators. The featured artists draw on the vast cultural influence of American music. Whether turning to early spirituals, jazz and mid-century musicals, or movie soundtracks and hip-hop, each artist deeply considers the traditions, methods, and purpose of music in daily life. Connecting innovative forms, past and present, to the American experience, they emphasize that our national story has always been complex, multivocal, and set to music.

The exhibition is organized by Saisha Grayson, curator of time-based media at the Smithsonian American Art Museum, with support from Anne Hyland, curatorial assistant.

Visiting Information

June 23, 2023 January 28, 2024
Open Daily, 11:30 a.m.–7:00 p.m
Free Admission

Publications

The cover of the publication Musical Thinking New Video Art & Sonic Strategies
Musical Thinking: New Video Art and Sonic Strategies 
Exploring the powerful resonances between recent video art and popular music, the exhibition Musical Thinking: New Video Art and Sonic Strategies features ten leading contemporary artists and the work.

Installation Images

Videos

Credit

Musical Thinking: New Video Art and Sonic Strategies is organized by the Smithsonian American Art Museum. Generous support has been provided by Michael Abrams and Sandra Stewart, Aida Alvarez, Candy and Michael Barasch, Carolyn and Mo Cunniffe, Roger S. Firestone Foundation, Ed and Kathy Fries, Elizabeth Firestone Graham Foundation, Pamela and David Hornik, Maureen and Gene Kim, Nion McEvoy Publications Endowment, Victoria McManus, V. Joy Simmons, MD, Smithsonian Accessibility Innovation Fund, Lucille and Richard Spagnuolo, Helen and Peter Warwick,and the SJ Weiler Fund.

This exhibition received federal support from the Smithsonian American Women’s History Initiative Pool, administered by the Smithsonian American Women’s History Museum, and the Asian Pacific American Pool, administered by the Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center.

Smithsonian American Women's History Museum logo in color.

SAAM Stories

A procession of women walking through the desert. The woman in front holds a radio on her shoulder.
05/19/2023
Exhibition invites viewers to discover the intersections and influences of video and sound, through works by some of today’s leading contemporary artists
This is a photograph of curator Saisha Grayson
Saisha Grayson
Curator of Time-Based Media
A group of women standing outside under a slatted-canopy. The shadows of the slats cross the image.
Curator Saisha Grayson examines the utopian realities presented in Smith's video artwork, Sojourner
SAAM
Side by side artworks displaying symbols in a musical arrangement.
11/03/2023
Award winning composer Raven Chacon combines Diné (Navajo) worldviews with Western classical and avant-garde music traditions
SAAM

Online Gallery

ADÁL, West Side Story Upside Down, Backwards, Sideways and Out of Focus (La Maleta de Futriaco Martínez), 2002, suitcase, flat-screen LCD monitor, single-channel digital video, color, sound; 12:51 minutes, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Museum purchase through the Luisita L. and Franz H. Denghausen Endowment, 2013.20A-B, © 2002, ADÁL
West Side Story Upside Down, Backwards, Sideways and Out of…
Artist
Date2002
suitcase, flat-screen LCD monitor, single-channel digital video, color, sound; 12:51 minutes
Not on view
ADÁL, El Puerto Rican Passport, El Spirit Republic de Puerto Rico: Luciana Alexandra del Rio de la Serna, 1994, issued 2012, lithography with photograph in staple-bound booklet, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of the artist, 2013.19.2, © 2012, ADÁL
El Puerto Rican Passport, El Spirit Republic de Puerto Rico…
Artist
Date1994, issued 2012
lithography with photograph in staple-bound booklet
Not on view
Raven Chacon, Report, 2001/2015, single-channel video, color, sound, and printed score shown on music stand; Component  A: 03:48 minutes, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Museum purchase through the Luisita L. and Franz H. Denghausen Endowment, 2020.61A-C, Video © 2015 Raven Chacon.  Composition © 2001 Raven Chacon
Report
Date2001/2015
single-channel video, color, sound, and printed score shown on music stand; Component A: 03:48 minutes
Not on view
Raven Chacon, For Ange Loft, from the series For Zitkála-Šá, 2020, lithograph on paper, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Museum purchase through the Julia D. Strong Endowment, 2022.7.1.1, © 2019-2020, Raven Chacon
For Ange Loft, from the series For Zitkála-Šá
Date2020
lithograph on paper
Not on view
Erin Ellen Kelly, Mariam Ghani, When the Spirits Moved Them, They Moved, 2019, three-channel video, color, sound; 23:36 minutes, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Museum purchase, 2021.23.1, © 2019, Mariam Ghani and Erin Ellen Kelly
When the Spirits Moved Them, They Moved
Date2019
three-channel video, color, sound; 23:36 minutes
Not on view
Martine Gutierrez, Clubbing, 2012, HD video, color, sound; 03:06 minutes, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Museum purchase, 2021.23.2, © 2012, Martine Gutierrez: Courtesy of the artist and RYAN LEE Gallery, New York.
Clubbing
Date2012
HD video, color, sound; 03:06 minutes
Not on view
Christine Sun Kim, One Week of Lullabies for Roux, 2018, seven tracks, sound, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Museum purchase through the Luisita L. and Franz H. Denghausen Endowment, 2020.79.1, © 2018 Christine Sun Kim. Courtesy of the artist and François Ghebaly, Los Angeles
One Week of Lullabies for Roux
Date2018
seven tracks, sound
Not on view
Christine Sun Kim, The Star-Spangled Banner (Third Verse), 2020, charcoal on paper, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Museum purchase and purchase through the Asian Pacific American Initiatives Pool, administered by the Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center and through the Julia D. Strong Endowment, 2021.31.1, © 2020, Christine Sun Kim. Courtesy of the artist and François Ghebaly, Los Angeles
The Star-Spangled Banner (Third Verse)
Date2020
charcoal on paper
Not on view
Liz Magic Laser, Simone Leigh, Breakdown, 2011, single-channel digital video, color, sound; 09:00 minutes, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Museum purchase through the Samuel and Blanche Koffler Acquisition Fund, 2019.33.2, © 2011, Simone Leigh & Liz Magic Laser
Breakdown
Date2011
single-channel digital video, color, sound; 09:00 minutes
Not on view
Cauleen Smith, Sojourner, 2018, digital video, color, sound; 22:41 minutes, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Museum purchase made possible by the SJ Weiler Fund, 2020.54.1, © 2020, Cauleen Smith
Sojourner
Date2018
digital video, color, sound; 22:41 minutes
Not on view
Arthur Jafa, Love is the Message, The Message is Death, 2016, single-channel high-definition digital video, color, sound; 07:25 minutes, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Joint museum purchase with the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C. Gift of Nion T. McEvoy, Chair of SAAM Commission (2016-2018), and McEvoy's fellow Commissioners in his honor; additional funding provided by Joseph H. Hirshhorn Bequest Fund, 2020.001., 2020.3, © 2016, Arthur Jafa. Image courtesy of the artist and Gavin Brown’s enterprise, New York / Rome.
Love is the Message, The Message is Death
Date2016
single-channel high-definition digital video, color, sound; 07:25 minutes
Not on view
Cauleen Smith, Pilgrim, 2017, digital video, color, sound; 07:41 minutes, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Museum purchase made possible by the SJ Weiler Fund, 2020.54.2, © 2020, Cauleen Smith
Pilgrim
Date2017
digital video, color, sound; 07:41 minutes
Not on view
Christine Sun Kim, Close Readings, 2015, four-channel video; 25:53 minutes, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Museum purchase through the Luisita L. and Franz H. Denghausen Endowment, 2020.79.2, © 2015 Christine Sun Kim. Courtesy of the artist and François Ghebaly, Los Angeles
Close Readings
Date2015
four-channel video; 25:53 minutes
Not on view

Accessibility Resources

A person walks holding a radio near her face. A group of people follow.
Accessibility: Exhibition Entrance and Cauleen Smith
Resource for wall text, ASL translations, verbal descriptions, and wayfinding for exhibition's opening section
Media - 2021.23.1 - SAAM-2021.23.1_1 - 140993
Accessibility: Mariam Ghani and Erin Ellen Kelly
Resource for wall text, ASL translations, verbal descriptions, and wayfinding for exhibition's second section
Media - 2013.20A-B - SAAM-2013.20_1 - 87448
Accessibility: ADÁL
Resource for wall text, ASL translations, verbal descriptions, and wayfinding for exhibition's third section
Media - 2020.61A-C - SAAM-2020.61A-C_1 - 140060
Accessibility: Ravon Chacon
Resource for wall text, ASL translations, verbal descriptions, and wayfinding for exhibition's fourth section
Media - 2019.33.2 - SAAM-2019.33.2_1 - 138073
Accessibility: Simone Leigh and Liz Magic Laser
Resource for wall text, ASL translations, verbal descriptions, and wayfinding for exhibition's fifth section
Media - 2021.23.2 - SAAM-2021.23.2_1 - 142483
Accessibility: Martine Gutierrez 
Resource for wall text, ASL translations, verbal descriptions, and wayfinding for exhibition's sixth section
Media - 2020.3 - SAAM-2020.3_1 - 138426
Accessibility: Arthur Jafa
Resource for wall text, ASL translations, verbal descriptions, and wayfinding for exhibition's seventh section
Media - 2020.79.1 - SAAM-2020.79.1_1 - 140662
Accessibility: Christine Sun Kim
Resource for wall text, ASL translations, verbal descriptions, and wayfinding for exhibition's eighth section
Media - 2020.54.2 - SAAM-2020.54.2_1 - 142470
Accessibility: Cauleen Smith and Exhibition Exit
Resource for wall text, ASL translations, verbal descriptions, and wayfinding for exhibition's final section

Artists

ADAL wears a tuxedo and fedora in front of windows. Text below him reads "Auto-Portrait: As I began to disappear I realized someone was beginning to forget me"
ADÁL
born Utuado, Puerto Rico 1948-died San Juan, Puerto Rico 2020
The artist Ravon Chacon stares directly into the camera in a black shirt
Raven Chacon
born Fort Defiance, AZ 1977
Mariam Ghani
born New York City 1978
Martine Guitierrez stares directly at the camera with her hand covering her mouth
Martine Gutierrez
born Berkeley, CA 1989
Arthur Jafa- portrait
Arthur Jafa
born Tupelo, MS 1960

Arthur Jafa (b. 1960, Tupelo, Mississippi) is an artist, filmmaker and cinematographer.

Simone Leigh
born Chicago, IL 1968
Liz Magic Laser
born New York City 1981
The artist Cauleen Smith sits in a chair in a pink top and green pants
Cauleen Smith
born Riverside, CA 1967
Christine Sun Kim stands in front of a tree and dark background in a pink dress
Christine Sun Kim
born Orange County, CA 1980