No more Mr Noise Guy!

[imomus]

I fly to London today for the opening of a group show at Heddon Street gallery Blow de la Barra. Click Opera readers in the London area, come along! The opening is this evening from 6pm to 8.30pm. As you can see, Lawrence Weiner and Douglas Coupland are also doing spoken word pieces, though I have no idea whether they're making the trip for the opening.



My piece is called "Whispering". It's a lot quieter than the piece I did at the Whitney Biennial. No bullhorn, no tour, not even a voice. Just breath and words. Just a label telling visitors that "Whispering" by Momus is available from the gallery staff on application. When people ask, they get a phrase I've e mailed the gallery that day whispered in their ear. Between now and September 2nd there'll be a fresh phrase daily. I'll also be asking staff to send me a mail each evening detailing one significant reaction, and that'll influence what I send.

I'll be in London for a week, mostly checking out the art school degree shows. And being really rather quiet.

Comments

[cap-scaleman.livejournal.com]

So you will send a phrase to the gallery and also whisper it to the visitors? Or will you improvise too? I am a bit confused, but then again it is quite late. I whish you a good night and a good flight.

[imomus.livejournal.com]

I'm only sending the phrases, the gallery staff will whisper each phrase to visitors who ask (prompted by the label) and will also select visitors they want to whisper the phrases to.

I'm just going for the opening because I want to, and because it's important to me to get the feel of the place, the acoustics, the ambience, what the staff are like, and so on. The piece doesn't require my presence. But I may perform a show in London at some point while the exhibition is on.

[cap-scaleman.livejournal.com]

Sounds like a new form of chinese whisper, no? Except that the visitors are not supposed to forward the message.

[piratehead.livejournal.com]

And you're getting paid, right?

[imomus.livejournal.com]

Nothing in my part of the show is buyable. But the gallery is flying me in, yes.

[piratehead.livejournal.com]

Suh-weet.

[(Anonymous)]

You should get people to pay for the work before the "whisper". Something suitably expensive to indicate the seriousness of the piece. That should provoke a reaction afterwards.

[slipmesomething.livejournal.com]

What a brilliant idea. I quite like the idea that it's the museum staff perfoming the piece, I've always been a fan of interactive pieces. I also like The fact that it changes daily.

Will you be posting the phases and feedback after the show is over?

[(Anonymous)]

Shhhh, i'm not even listening.

[(Anonymous)]

...And being really rather quiet.

One could only hope.

[unluckymonkey.livejournal.com]

perhaps incorrect of me but are you sans eye in some sense or do you just have spectacular fashion sense? Probably both now that I think on the butchers apron.

[imomus.livejournal.com]

I have the eye, but the eye does not see (http://www.imomus.com/matt.html).

[cheapsurrealist.livejournal.com]

I saw a short film at Superfest (http://www.culturedisabilitytalent.org/superfest/index.html) about a guy who had cochlear implants and the trouble he had from moving from a non-hearing to a hearing world.

What fascinates me about devices like that and and the possibility of tiny video cameras to restore vision is that we're learning how to tap into the wiring of the brain. And while making repairs to input devices like eyes and ears is important, I'm more interested in the output of the brain.

Seeing the first grainy image and faint sounds recorded from someones mind will be as monumental as landing on the moon.

[rhodri.livejournal.com]

Oof.

I damaged my eyes by skimping on contact lens solutions when I was a student. Luckily it hasn't affected my sight, merely stopped me from wearing contact lenses any more. This is the latest in a series of uninteresting comments from me on LiveJournal.

Talkman

[fascicle.livejournal.com]

Y'know, the Sony PSP will now chat up
cute Nihonese women for you, even
throwing in the occasional unrequested
spontaneous Line, appropriate or not.

(thinking on the Borg lines)

[unluckymonkey.livejournal.com]

Thank you so much for that link. I do believe I'm incapable of such upbeat enthusiasm in the face of potential eye loss.

[lord-whimsy.livejournal.com]

Whispering in Welsh, I hope. It seems to lend itself to the task.

[(Anonymous)]

Momus, what on earth are those sunglasses? I simply must have a pair!!!?

[imomus.livejournal.com]

Japanese, of course!

[desant012.livejournal.com]

Makes sense why I couldn't find a pair at the Sunglass Hut.

berlin questions

[(Anonymous)]

momus,

a couple questions about travel to berlin from new york....

how much does the flight cost this season (i heard it's peak) and was quoted around $800. are there any other routes, like flying into london or paris and taking the train? does that lower the total cost? should i wait til fall when the tickets are reduced?

i don't know anyone in berlin, so was wondering if the city is tourist friendly, or stranger friendly? what kind of accomodations (hotel/sublet) etc are ideal in this situation? i'm planning a 3 week trip.

thanks herr momus.

-d

Re: berlin questions

[imomus.livejournal.com]

It is peak season just now. Shop around online and fly New York to London, then fly Ryanair to Berlin from there, is one option. Ryanair is never "peak"!

But it's worth looking at the direct NY to Berlin flights run by Continental and Delta too. When I flew that route earlier in the year it was only $500.

Re: berlin questions

[(Anonymous)]

thanks herr momus,

i'll look into Ryanair even though it sounds like something out of a Wes Anderson movie.

what do you think about hostels/hotels, etc? are they hard to come by in berlin? just looking for some place to start looking for accomodations.

thanks!

[fufurasu.livejournal.com]

I'm dissappointed that I can't make the opening, but I'll go by the gallery sometime in the next four days. Any other plans while you're in town? On Thursday evening I'm planning to watch the Japan vs Brazil game in a Japanese bar with friends who are more interested in the company than the football. Opportunity for an anthropological study of Japanese fans' reactions mayhaps? Join us!

[(Anonymous)]

anthropological?

hmm

Momus in London

[(Anonymous)]

get ready for another Click Opera about 'Why Momus hates London'
compared to other cities.
"We're not all NME writers, you know!"

Re: Momus in London

[rhodri.livejournal.com]

London's terrible, and the sooner Momus wakes up and realises it, the better.

Re: Momus in London

[bagrec.livejournal.com]

I wouldn't live there if you paid me.

Re: Momus in London

[rhodri.livejournal.com]

Ah. I'll cancel that standing order I just set up for you, then.

[magnakai.livejournal.com]

Any idea if you're going to make it up here for the Glasgow School Of Art show?

Chit - Chat

[dubow-org.livejournal.com]

I am horribly upset that I am going to miss your London opening, as I'm currently packing my bags to move to London on Sat. Though, few of my friends and I are going to the Pecha Kucha Night on Sunday (part of the London Architecture Biennale week). We got a spare ticket and would love for you to join us! Less whispering…more Pecha Kucha? :)

Re: Chit - Chat

[imomus.livejournal.com]

Pecha Kucha, I was just reading about that in the architecture biennial program!

momasu@gmail.com

[(Anonymous)]

"Each day of the exhibition, Nick Currie (aka Momus) releases a different Chinese Whisper in the gallery space, constructing an unique accumulation of murmurs. A piece revealing itself through time, that contributes to an exhibition in constant becoming."

- Is this a product of chinese whispers??

Or is "releasing a chinese whsper" a euphemism for flatulence?

[auto-nalle.livejournal.com]

sounds cute.
you have a fairly good whisper though, so i'd prefer the personal delivery.

That photo

[(Anonymous)]

You look like Leslie Hall in that picture!

My cousin and I were at the opening...

[(Anonymous)]

...and hung around for 20 minutes or so, trying to work out what was happening...

...or indeed if ANYTHING was happening...

...apart from a bunch of people stood around chatting. Loudly.

We tried to spot gallery staff, doing what the blurb said they would be doing....

...but none were in evidence.

So we stared at the walls for a bit, gave up and went for something to eat.

Really disappointed, sorry.

Re: My cousin and I were at the opening...

[imomus.livejournal.com]

The thing is, it's a language show, so you can't see the art at the opening! There is some painting, but it's extremely low-key: slightly off-colour wall, some white-on-white art, some lines. You really have to go during the run of the show to see / hear the work.

But openings are never the ideal time to see art anyway. They're always "a bunch of people stood around chatting loudly".

Re: My cousin and I were at the opening...

[rwillmsen.livejournal.com]

(looks at the paintings in the first room, on entering the second finds it to be an office occupied by a woman busy writing emails)

"Hello. Should I ask you for a sentence?"

"Oh yes, erm, the Nick Currie thing. Erm, it's (reading aloud from a piece of paper) 'Something something you feel happiness"

"Sorry? What was the first bit again?"

"Something to the bath, you feel happiness."

"Sorry, I didn't catch the first bit."

(shows me the piece of paper) "It's there".

"Oh, right. Erm, do you feel happiness when you 'apply to the bath'?"

"Oh, erm, I don't know."

"Oh."

(continues tapping on keyboard)

"Erm, can I take one of these leaflet things?"

"Oh yes, they're a pound".

...

Some of the content of the leaflet thing was very interesting, but it was not reflected in the 'content' of the exhibition, which was so impenetrable (should I have been asking different questions to experience the other exhibits? What questions? Do I have to contact the artists directly in order to find out? I didn't get the impression that the gallery staff knew what was going on; if it was simply a matter of asking the staff to hear the different pieces, this will be lost on the overwhelming majority of people who take the time to visit the exhibition) that it was very disappointing.