Sculptural practice in the 20th century witnessed explosive innovation in its experiments with new mediums, bodily engagement, and theatricality as artists sought to expand our understanding of the dynamics between objects and space. One of the most radical developments was the use of sound to further explore those dynamics and test the boundaries of convention. Sound as Sculpture brings together foundational works from the 1960s and 1970s, alongside important recent and contemporary works, to examine the different ways in which artists have used sound to create an experience of space as time; play with the body’s ability to emit, transmit, perceive, and absorb sound; and draw on the psychological and poetic effects of sound in space.

Sound as Sculpture includes work from the Collection of the Adrian Piper Research Archive Foundation Berlin; Cardiff & Miller (Courtesy of the artists and Luhring Augustine, New York); Collection of J. Patrick Collins; Dallas Museum of Art; Collection of Marguerite and Robert Hoffman; Private Collection of Timothy C. Headington; Holt/Smithson Foundation, Santa Fe; Collection of Ishikawa Foundation, Okayama, Japan (Courtesy of Pierre Huyghe and Esther Schipper, Berlin); Private Collection/Kunstmuseum Liechtenstein, Vaduz; Ludwig Forum für Internationale Kunst, Aachen; The Menil Collection, Houston; The Museum of Modern Art, New York; The Rachofsky Collection; Collection of Deedie Rose; Nora Schultz (Courtesy of the artist, Galerie Isabella Bortolozzi, Berlin, and O-Town House, Los Angeles); Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York, Panza Collection; Haegue Yang (Courtesy the artist and Greene Naftali, New York); and The Estate of Minoru Yoshida: Courtesy of Ulterior Gallery, New York, NY.