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Binary Fusion

Art and Religion in Seen + Heard

Kaia King-Smith
Write About Art 6
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One of art’s most powerful qualities is its ability to begin a dialogue; to not just send a message, but start a conversation. Music has also inspired listeners throughout history to consider and reflect, to interact and respond. Sound and vision are the two pre-eminent human senses, and in ‘Seen + Heard: Works and Multiples from the Collection’, curator David Burnett has gathered a selection of art works from the Queensland Art Gallery/Gallery of Modern Art’s collection that explicitly bring these two forms together, in order to create new conversations. The exhibition features objects (such as records and musical scores), musical performance and sound installations. There is a notable contingent of music and music-related objects by Fluxus artists, with major works by Nam June Paik. A significant component is a collection of vinyl LP records and record covers that show a variety of approaches to the issue of representing musical content through visual design. On one level, these conversations involve the exchange of information between the artworks and both historical and contemporary culture. On a personal level there is the ongoing to and fro creation of meaning that occurs over time once the individual’s interaction with the artwork has begun. Any good conversation touches on many subjects, but in this exhibition—amongst the variety of ideas—idolatry and sacramental practice recur as key components throughout the works.

In ‘Seen + Heard’ many of the artworks use imagery relating to idolatry as a part of their conversation. After the Second World War the practice of, and belief in, religion steadily declined, however from that time the concept of the ‘pop icon’ arose in Western society. One could propose that the pop icon filled... The rest of this article is available to subscribers of Eyeline

Candice Breitz, King (a portrait of Michael Jackson), 2005.

Candice Breitz, King (a portrait of Michael Jackson), 2005. 16-channel video installation: 42:20 minutes, colour, sound, 500 x 1200cm (installed, variable). Purchased 2008 with funds from Tim Fairfax, AM, through the Queensland Art Gallery Foundation. Collection Queensland Art Gallery. © The artist.