Direct Bodily Empathy - Sensing Sound
17 May 2025 - 16 Mar 2026
Direct Bodily Empathy – Sensing Sound explores sound as a medium, and the dimensions of sympathetic resonance.
It attunes with shared vibration, embodied knowledge, and the physical act of deep listening. The exhibition spans sonic structures and resonant objects, graphic scores and visual music, tangible motion sculptures and kinetic installations, architectural soundings, experimental films, composition, and choreography.
Taking a polyphonic approach, Direct Bodily Empathy places leading 20th century artist Len Lye in concert with his contemporaries, elaborating on these historical echoes through new commissions and recent works by Aotearoa and international contemporary artists. Leading out a two-part program, Sensing Sound asks: can architecture be a musical score? can the body be an instrument? can colour be heard? How does this move us?
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Ross Manning Spectra XIII, 2017. fluorescent lights, oscillating fans, steel cable, aluminium and timber. Installation view Ross Manning: Dissonant Rhythms at Caloundra Regional Art Gallery. An Institute of Modern Art and Museums & Galleries Queensland touring exhibition. Spectra XIII originally commissioned by the Institute of Modern Art, Brisbane. Image: Ben Vox.
Ross Manning Spectra XIII, 2017. fluorescent lights, oscillating fans, steel cable, aluminium and timber. Installation view Ross Manning: Dissonant Rhythms at Caloundra Regional Art Gallery. An Institute of Modern Art and Museums & Galleries Queensland touring exhibition. Spectra XIII originally commissioned by the Institute of Modern Art, Brisbane. Image: Ben Vox.
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Yona Lee Kit-set In-transit, 2020. stainless steel, objects. dimensions variable. Unique. Courtesy of the artist and Fine Arts, Sydney.
Yona Lee Kit-set In-transit, 2020. stainless steel, objects. dimensions variable. Unique. Courtesy of the artist and Fine Arts, Sydney.
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Mia Salsjö Composition #4: The Towers, as part of The Quietude 2023, for the Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre, designed by McBride Charles Ryan Architects. Image: Christian Capurro.
Mia Salsjö Composition #4: The Towers, as part of The Quietude 2023, for the Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre, designed by McBride Charles Ryan Architects. Image: Christian Capurro.
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Len Lye A Colour Box, 1935. colour, moving image, sound, 4:00 min. Courtesy of the Len Lye Foundation. From material preserved and made available by Ngā Taonga Sound & Vision.
Len Lye A Colour Box, 1935. colour, moving image, sound, 4:00 min. Courtesy of the Len Lye Foundation. From material preserved and made available by Ngā Taonga Sound & Vision.
