Centre Pompidou × West Bund Museum Project
I Never Dream Otherwise than Awake: Journeys in Sound
26 April - 17 September 2024 | Gallery 3
From 26 April to 17 September 2024, the Centre Pompidou × the West Bund Museum Project presents the exhibition “I Never Dream Otherwise than Awake: Journeys in Sound” where an ensemble of nearly 15 major installation works from the Centre Pompidou’s noteworthy new media collection is showcased alongside selected audiovisual art works and sound sculptures from Chinese artists. The exhibition delves into the expressive potential of sound, particularly its capacity to circulate, to be ubiquitous and to set relationships. This exhibition is one of the highlights of 2024 Croisements 60 Festival organized every year by Institut Français in China.
Emmanuel Lagarrigue, I never dream otherwise than awake,
2006
Sound installation, Flourescent light strips, speakers, various audio equipments, audio files AIFF, 6min 20sec
Centre Pompidou, Paris
©Emmanuel Lagarrigue
crédits photo : Emmanuel Lagarrigue
Sound has long been a subject of interest in the history of the visual arts, yet its potential as an artistic medium remains largely untapped. As their works grace the exhibition space, artists from diverse eras and regions converge to initiate a dialogue that transcends the confines of geography, time, and space. Among them are esteemed international pioneers in contemporary art including Francis Alÿs, Susan Philipsz, Gary Hill and Bill Fontana, alongside younger generations including Hassan Khan, Anne Le Troter, Yuko Mohri, Naama Tsabar, and Chinese artists active on the global stage, such as Zhou Tao, Liu Chuang, Tao Hui, Samson Young, and many others.
Holly Herndon and Mat Dryhurst, I'm Here 17.12.2022 5:44, 2023, Digital video generated by an AI, 5min 44sec
Collection Centre Pompidou
© Holly Herndon © Mathew Dryhurst
The exploration of sound is becoming increasingly diversified with the development of technology, positioning itself at the forefront of artistic practice and combining interdisciplinary inquiry to continuously challenge and expand the boundaries of art. This exhibition highlights the renewed fruitfulness of this cross-fertilisation over the last twenty years. While recalling the role of renown pioneers in the field sound research, it showcases the range of practices that are developing today, moving fluidly from concerts to installations, from musical compositions to the development of new visual languages.
Yuko Mohri, Parade, 2011-2017, Mixed media, Variable dimensions
Centre Pompidou, Paris
© Yuko Mohri
© Centre Pompidou-Metz
Photo Jacqueline Trichard, 2017, Exposition Japanorama
Improvisation protocols and collective practices, sampling and collage, feedback and filtering, algorithmic generation, and creation through social networks... Sound and music inspire meaningful gestures that reflect our waving relationship to the world.
Naama Tsabar, Stranger (video still), 2017, Single channel video, 11:34 min loop
Collection Centre Pompidou
Courtesy of the artist
© Naama Tsabar Studio
"I never dream otherwise than awake”—the title of one of the works in the exhibition, by Emmanuel Lagarrigue—suggests a subtle line between waking and dreaming, between a lucid perception of the here and now and a semi-conscious state of research, hinting at sensations yet to come.
Liu Chuang, Gluttonous Me, 2018
Audiovisual installation
EVD, home entertainment system (walnut cabinet, Atman television, amplifier, PC computer, 7 JBL loudspeakers, 1 JBL bass speaker, 7.1 surround sound system, plastic lampshades, LED light control system, mirror)
Variable dimensions
24min 24sec
Commissioned for Cosmopolis #1.5 : Enlarged Intelligence with the support of the Mao Jihong Arts Foundation, courtesy artist and Antenna Space
During the exhibition, “Sound Art Live” unfolds, featuring Chinese musicians and performers including Wang Changcun, Ye Hui, Yan Jun, Wang Menghan, and Sun Wei. Their performances not only unveil the richness of current sound practices carried out by different generations of artists in China, but also engage in a dialogue with the diversity of artworks exhibited, providing an opportunity to explore a wide range of experimental practices and musical genres: ambient, field recordings, electronic music, and noise.
Zhou Tao, Chick Speaks to Duck, Pig Speaks to Dog, 2005
Digital video, 4/3, color, sound, 6min
Courtesy of the artist and Vitamin Creative Space
