Sight Unseen

Imagine walking into an art gallery on opening night and seeing none of the art. This Zen koan is brought to life by Re(sound), the new exhibition at the Cecile R. Hunt Gallery on the Webster University campus (8342 Big Bend Boulevard; 314-968-7957 or www.websterhuntgallery.blogspot.com). As the title hints, this is a show concerned with the ever-present and rarely seen world of sound. International and local sound shapers such as Martin Atkins (former drummer for Killing Joke and Pigface), Eric Hall (at least a decade of excellence in soundscape architecture) and Tony Renner (improv sound shaman and friend to the skeletons) have created invisible but still apprehendable works of art that both prove and push the idea of an art gallery being a physical location where art is found and a temporary eddy where the art accumulates briefly and then moves on. Re(sound) is experienced via headphones attached to an installation of five listening stations — there's no need to jockey for position in front of the wall, no examining the work from all angles. Just approach it, plug in and listen. Re(sound) opens with a free public reception from 6 to 8 p.m. Friday, February 5. The gallery is open Monday through Saturday, and the work remains accessible through Friday, March 5.
Mondays-Saturdays. Starts: Feb. 5. Continues through March 5, 2010