SSSSSSSST


Group exhibition with Justin Bennett at AG Ruimte voor nieuwe kunst en media, Utrecht
08/09 – 30/09/2023
Opening: Friday 08/09, 17h


SSSSSSSST is an exhibition that stimulates the ears. What can be heard when we ourselves are silent? What do we learn when we listen better to our surroundings?


Elise ’t Hart (1991, The Hague) founded the Instituut voor Huisgeluid (Institute for Domestic Sound),  for her graduation from HKU Fine Art in 2013. Since then, she has worked as an artist and teacher, making numerous exhibitions, most recently for the H3H Biennial in Oosterhout, at museum CODA in Apeldoorn and previously as curator for the former DordtYart.


’t Hart uses sound to tell her stories and tells stories about sounds. She is fascinated by the experience of the world around us: “We Westerners are so focused on images – ‘see first, then believe’ – that we tend to forget how sound brings us closer to our feelings. After all, sound is vibration, sometimes literally tangible.” Through installations, podcasts, workshops, compositions and presentations, ’t Hart aims to create awareness of the value and meaning of everyday sound, resulting in a more complete experience of our environment. What role does sound play in our imagination, in our memory? What can we learn about the future by listening to the past?


In SSSSSSSST, ’t Hart brings together work by herself and that of ten artists and composers who inspire her, including that of HKU alumni Mark IJzerman and Valentijn Janssen. The exhibition was created in collaboration with musician, composer, sound designer Nils Davidse, alumnus of HKU Utrechts Conservatorium.


Justin Bennett shows the video Vilgiskoddeoayvinyarvi – Wolf Lake on the Mountains (2018). Other artists that take part are: Maria Barnas, Nils Davidse, Paul Devens, Elise ’t Hart, Mark IJzerman, Valentijn Janssen, Marylou Petot, Tao J. Sambolec, Marloes van Son and Sarah van Sonsbeeck.


In Vilgiskoddeoayvinyarvi: Wolf Lake on the Mountains, we follow Viktor Koslovsky, a scientist still working at the otherwise abandoned Kola Super-Deep Borehole, a geological research station “at the border of everything” in north-west Russia. He tells of the history of this former cold-war project and of his current research which he describes as “listening to the past in order to hear the future”.


AG Ruimte voor nieuwe kunst en media, Utrecht
Minrebroederstraat 16
3512 GT Utrecht NL


08/09 – 30/09/2023
Wed – Sat,  13-18h
Opening: Friday 08/09, 17h


Read more at AG Ruimte voor nieuwe kunst en media