Fondazione Prada has organised a treat for the eyes and ears at its Venice museum with Art or Sound, a curated exhibition which celebrates musical instruments that are as beautiful to look at as they are to listen to. That’s if you can work out how to play them; not many of the subverted, embellished and otherwise re-imagined instruments on show here would make it into a classical orchestra line-up. For example, Ken Butler’s functioning Pool Cue Archery Bow Cello seems like it would need an extra set of hands just to pick up, and going further back in time, the 18th Century Guitare-Lyre by an unknown artist, while undoubtedly impressive, looks a bit architectural for everyday use.
Sound installations and kinetic sculptures reinforce the link between the aesthetic and the auditory in art. The venue isn’t too shabby either; the collection will occupy 1,000m2 over three floors of the magnificent Ca’ Corner della Regina, a palazzo on the Grand Canal built between 1724 and 1728 by Domenico Rossi for the Corner family. The building was recently reopened following major restoration and preservation work by the Fondazione Prada, and this exhibition is the first to use the full extent of the palazzo since work was completed. The dates are 7 June to 3 November.
Arman
The Spirit of Yamaha
1997
Baby Grand Piano sliced in three parts
with two Yamaha motorcycles in between
Courtesy The Arman Studio Archives, New York
© SIAE 2014
Haroon Mirza
Lo Tech proposed
2006
Collection of the Artist
Ken Butler
Pool Cue Archery Bow Cello
1981
Courtesy of the artist
Bernard Baschet/ François Baschet
Guitare pliable et gonfable
1980 ca.
Photo: Jean Marc Anglès
Courtesy Musée de la musique, Paris
@ SIAE 2014
Unknown
Anonyme
Cornet à bouquin ténor en forme de serpent et à tête de dragon
17th century
Photo: Albert Giordan
Courtesy Collection Musée de la Musique, Paris
Unknown
Guitare-Lyre
18th century
Photo: Jean-Marc Anglès
Courtesy Collection Musée de la Musique, Paris
Cocchi Giuseppe,
Giovanni Battista Bacigalupo,
Antonio Graffigna
Street Organ
1898
Photo: Albertine Dijkema
Courtesy Museum Speelklok, Utrecht, The Netherlands
Anderson Laurie
Numbers Runners
1979
Wood, telephone, video tape, artificial grass
Courtesy Deste Foundation
Thomas Demand
Heldenorgel
2009
Collezione Prada
© Thomas Demand, VG Bild-Kunst,
Bonn / SIAE, Roma
