Sergei Tcherepnin <em>Aviary Clones</em> 2018, installation view.
Quadraphonic sound installation, UV prints on synthetic silk, copper & brass sculptures,
motion activated LEDs, motion activated sound, aviary netting, inkjet print dimensions variable.
Photo Mark Dwyer

Sergei Tcherepnin Aviary Clones 2018, installation view.
Quadraphonic sound installation, UV prints on synthetic silk, copper & brass sculptures,
motion activated LEDs, motion activated sound, aviary netting, inkjet print dimensions variable.
Photo Mark Dwyer

Exhibition

4 Aug — 18 Nov 2018

Sensory Agents

Centred around Len Lye’s noise-making kinetic sculpture and a set of audio recordings held in the Len Lye Foundation Archive, Sensory Agents focuses on the role sound plays in Lye’s work, and links Lye to a younger generation of artists who share his interest in the capacity of sound and music to elicit sensory responses.

Danae Valenza Your Motion Says 2016, installation view detail. Photo Mark Dwyer. Courtesy the artist

Yuko Mohri Moré Moré (Leaky): Variations 1 2017–2018, installation view. Mixed media, various dimensions. Photo Sam Hartnett

Danae Valenza Align/Intime (news from nowhere) 2018. Colour slide installation, sound, various dimensions. Photo Sam Hartnett

Sensory Agents Sounds of Len Lye Sculpture in Gallery 6. Photo Mark Dwyer

Sergei Tcherepnin Aviary Clones 2018, installation detail.
Quadraphonic sound installation, UV prints on synthetic silk, copper & brass sculptures,
motion activated LEDs, motion activated sound, aviary netting, inkjet print dimensions variable.
Photo Mark Dwyer

Danae Valenza Align/Intime (news from nowhere) 2018. Colour slide installation, sound, various dimensions. Photo Sam Hartnett

Yuko Mohri Moré Moré (Leaky): Variations 1 2017–2018, installation detail. Mixed media, various dimensions. Photo Sam Hartnett

Danae Valenza Your Motion Says 2016, installation view. Photo Mark Dwyer. Courtesy the artist

Len Lye's kinetic sculptures Bell Wand and Fountain perform in the Sensory Agents exhibition in Gallery 6. Photo Mark Dwyer

Danae Valenza Your Motion Says 2016, installation view detail. Photo Mark Dwyer. Courtesy the artist

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Work by Len Lye alongside installations and new commissions by Yuko Mohri (JP), Sergei Tcherepnin (US) and Danae Valenza (AU), three international artists working across sculpture, sound and musical composition.

Curated by Sarah Wall

#govettbrewster #lenlye #sensoryart

Witnessing Lye’s steel sculpture in motion is a highly physical experience, with the sounds produced by their movements – their force, energy, rhythm and resonance – vital to their sensory impact and appeal. Working with steel, Lye developed a range of techniques to heighten the potential sound-producing qualities of his sculptures, including the use of bells and percussive ‘strikers’. This gave Lye the idea to record and make these new sounds available to musicians and composers as source material for their compositions, expanding their material for music.

In keeping with this idea, Sensory Agents also presents newly commissioned compositions by contemporary artists and composers using the sounds of Lye’s sculpture alongside original recordings held in the Len Lye Foundation Archive. It opens a new evaluation of his work in terms of sound and music, to consider them, in Lye’s own words, as ‘musical instruments rather than visual kinetic works of art’.

Download your copies:

Sensory Agents Gallery 6 Sounds Table

Sensory Agents Gallery 6 room brochure

Sergei Tcherepnin Aviary Clones artwork info

Yuko Mohri Moré Moré (Leaky): Variations 1 artwork info

Danae Valenza Your Motion Says artwork info

Danae Valenza Align/In time (news from nowhere) artwork info