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

Video Player is loading.
Current Time 0:00
Duration 0:00
Loaded: 0.00%
Stream Type LIVE
Remaining Time 0:00
 
1x
    • Chapters
    • descriptions off, selected
    • captions off, selected
      • “Musical Thinking: New Video Art and Sonic Strategies" Introduction “Musical Thinking: New Video Art and Sonic Strategies" Introduction
      • Clarice Smith Distinguished Lecture: Cauleen Smith Clarice Smith Distinguished Lecture: Cauleen Smith

      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.
      Exhibitions05/19/2023
      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.
      Exhibitions11/03/2023
      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