Alexander Tillegreen: Fluctuations

Opening of the exhibition Fluctuations in the presence of the artist

Introduction: Dr. León Krempel (in English)

Joint exhibition tour

For many years, the Kunsthalle Darmstadt has been an important Summer Course venue: for example, the composer-performer workshops by Jennifer Walshe and David Helbich were held here several times to great acclaim. This year we are changing the concept of our cooperation with the Kunsthalle and have jointly invited a solo artist to take over the spaces: Danish composer and visual artist Alexander Tillegreen, born in 1991 in Copenhagen, is creating a parcours that combines sound installations and graphics from the large hall to the small gallery spaces and the back pavilions to Studio West and Studio Ost.

In Tillegreen’s work various voices are raised that fluctuate, unfold, vibrate and collapse, starting with the fragility and intimacy of whispers. The sound installations play with the participatory engagement of visitors/listeners in relation to the various architectural dynamics and acoustic situations of the spaces, exploring the boundaries of language, speech and the materiality of voices.

The works in the exhibition are also a manifestation of the artist’s ongoing artistic research into the “Phantom Words Illusion”, a psychoacoustic effect that allows the listener to “hear” words that are not acoustically present, but based on her/his own experience.

Besides a whole new body of three commissioned works Tillegreen will also present two versions of earlier sound pieces adapted to the occasion based on archival voice recordings of the Brazilian visual artist Mary Vieira and of musician and songwriter Syd Barrett.

In addition to the sound installations, the artist will also present a series of visual works that function as corresponding scores, reflecting and visualizing the newly commissioned auditive works in a variety of ways.

Opening hours of the exhibition:

Monday, 7 August – Saturday, 19 August: 14.30–19.00

Guided tours: 14.30 / 15.30 / 16.30 / 17.30

Alexander Tillegreen will also host several listening sessions at the Open Space.

The exhibition is kindly supported by the Danish Arts Foundation, the Danish Composers’ Society, the Danish Art Workshops and the Sound Art Lab Struer and the Beckett Foundation.