Listening - Sam Belinfante

Listening curated by Sam Belinfante interrogates the idea of listening itself rather than its aural objects. The act of listening is the subject matter for the exhibition and the method by which it is encountered and explored. The exhibition is made up of a wide range of objects that coexist in the two gallery spaces at BALTIC 39. Sounds from the works are programmed to sound intermittently and activated by the viewer.

Key works in the exhibition include a new commission by Turner Prize winner Laura Prouvost, Amalia Pica offers the opportunity to intimately listen-in to others through glasses stuck to the wall in Eavesdropping 2011. In the footsteps of John Cage, Haroon Mirza’s Siren 2012 turns inwards to the sounds of one’s own body as well as the hum of electricity that surrounds us.

Much of the work in the show also has the effect of turning outwards to the world - the ears are piqued by events beyond ones visual limits. Prem Sahib Taking Turns 2013 presents a throbbing inaccessible nightclub; Katie Paterson Dying Star Doorbell 2008 connects us to a melting iceberg. Works by Max Neuhaus and Janet Cardiff lead visitors out of the gallery all together; on journeys of sensory discovery.

Artists in the exhibition are:

Ed Atkins, Janet Cardiff and George Bures Miller, Mikhail Karikis, Ragnar Kjartansson, Lina Lapelyte, Christian Marclay, Haroon Mirza, Max Neuhaus, Katie Paterson, Amalia Pica, Laure Prouvost, Hannah Rickards, Prem Sahib, Anri Sala, Imogen Stidworthy and Carey Young.