Procuring a “Festival” at the Whitney Museum of American Art is only a small feat for renowned artist and composer, Christian Marclay.  In the past thirty years he has exhibited his art worldwide, pioneered turntablism (the use of records and turntables as musical instruments), and worked with film, photography, sculpture, performance and video to brilliantly explore the connections between image and sound.

From the moment you step out of the elevator all types of art surround you commanding your attention.  The back wall displays an enormous chalkboard traced with musical staff lines and covered with markings made by museum visitors.  To your left, The Bell and the Glass video projection plays continually and to your right is a room displaying an assortment of collages, garments, photographs and more, some dating back to the 1990’s and each functioning as a musical score.

One of the most alluring exhibits within this room is the Graffiti Composition.  In 1996, thousands of blank sheet music were posted throughout Berlin.  The result varied from ripped or scribbled graffiti on the posters, to musical notations.  The altered sheets were then photographed producing a score of 150 images unbound images for musicians to select from and use in performance or as inspiration.

The short concert we heard, performed by Mary Halvorson and Ikue Mori, derived its inspiration and perhaps whole sections from aforementioned score.  My interpretation was that the sometimes harsh, electronic sounds coming from the speakers was triggered by the torn, graffiti-covered sheets reminding the musicians of the realities of urban life in Berlin, filled with loud disturbances.   At some points the speakers oozed out the sound of soothing rain, another reminder of the weather the sheet music was exposed to.  Accompanying the speakers was a guitar occasionally playing familiar tunes or chords and at other times seemingly haphazard notes.

Every element of the exhibit reminded me of a unifying message Marclay expertly ties together: music is about more than the artist showing off his talents, but rather the artist’s process of creation through his interaction with the community in ordinary life.  His choices to engage the audience break down the barriers of traditional art allowing us to connect to his work rather than simply view it.

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Check out this mini-documentary on turntable sound pioneer Christian Marclay: