Press Release

Jason Rhoades
Sound Piece (Duet for Hammond and Hammond), 2000
2 – 31 May 2005

Born in Newcastle, California, in 1965. Lives and works in Los Angeles.
“His sculptural installations are profuse, in every sense of the word, but they are also intuitively and intelligently composed, so that each object has its place in a larger system. In this theatrical whole, the object becomes a kind of beacon among the alliance of a living, chromatic whole that embraces all the elements and every medium.” (Harald Szeemann, L’Autre, la Biennale de Lyon/RMN, Paris, 1997)

Sound Piece (Duet for Hammond and Hammond), 2000
collection Pierre Huber, Geneva, courtesy Art & Public, Geneva

4 MD players, various MDs, 4 wooden tables with collaged photos under Plexiglas, 4 plastic barrels, one aluminium barrel, one wooden Mephisto shoe box, cables, aluminium pole, motion detectors, speakers,
rolls of posters, miniature rugs.

The title of the work refers to the exhibition "Perfect World" in Hamburg, 1999: A large polishing machine with the fabricator's name of HAMMOND was used there to polish the huge amount of aluminium poles necessary for the
construction. In reaction to this, the artist then hired a Hammond organ and an organ player, who would play Abba songs in duet with the noisy polishing machine. Parts of this duets are heard on the MDs of 'Sound Piece'.
Approaching the sculpture, the visitor will trigger motion detectors which in turn activate MD players. The more people are around the work, the more players will start working and recreate the cacophony of Hamburg 1999, enabling a reconstructed experience of the atmosphere during the set-up of the 'Perfect World' exhibition.

On the small tables relics and models of this installation are seen, such as miniature rugs and barrels, photos of the garden, etc.