Absorb / Diffuse
September 8 – October 29, 2011
The Kitchen
New York, NY
The institute's press release follows:
The Kitchen presents Absorb / Diffuse, a solo exhibition of new works by Brooklyn-based artist Jennie C. Jones. Commissioned by The Kitchen, the show centers on From The Low, an original sound score in three movements composed by Jones that will be heard via The Kitchen gallery’s quadraphonic sound system. Acoustic Paintings, a new series of paintings by Jones, complete the exhibition. Curated by Matthew Lyons, the exhibition will be on view from September 8 through October 29, 2011.
Jennie C. Jones’ Absorb / Diffuse re-contextualizes the materials and objects involved with sound recording to explore how we listen and how sound operates physically and metaphorically. In transforming these physical and aural elements of music and sound recording, Jones’s work layers the formal languages of Modernism—abstraction and minimalism—over avant-garde jazz to extend and complicate these parallel legacies of experimentation.
From The Low is a digital re-composition of appropriated samples that exist in the psychological and emotional territory of dark notes, deep chords and low frequency with an emphasis on contra bass and bass instruments, ranging from jazz to orchestral work. The score utilizes traditional music and sound sampling as well as a practice Jones calls “micro-sampling”—pulling single notes rather than phrases or measures.
The accompanying Acoustic Paintings are made with absorber and diffuser panels, which are soundproofing materials typically used to line audio engineering and recording studios. The panels are mounted on canvas and painted with graphic “interruptions” that allude to music notation. Jones returns to painting with this series, bridging her audio work with two-dimensional art objects. The works, while functioning as the aesthetic aspect of the exhibition, subtly influence the acoustics of the room.