Iannis Xenakis: Sonic Odysseys
CLIENT
National Museum of Contemporary Art Athens (EMST)
CATEGORY
Περιοδική έκθεση
The conceptual and spatial design of the exhibition on Iannis Xenakis takes its inspiration from the workshop environment of architectural offices, recording studios and music rehearsal spaces of his time.
The design of the exhibition creates a space for visitors to experience Xenakis’s work in a way that provides insight into his multi-dimensional personality. As a viewer, one has the experience of entering a space of production and creation. Original documents and items are arranged and presented on slanted surfaces that bring to mind architectural designs and the UPIC, the computerized compositional system designed by Xenakis.
The exhibition space is structured around four columns that create an internal subspace containing display cases with Xenakis’s archive and architectural props. Laboratory-style lighting fixtures that are arranged crosswise form a horizon above the showcases. The vertical pedestals form additional subspaces with sound-absorbing material that house Xenakis’s sound events.
Drawings, scores and notes posted on sloping surfaces along the length of the exhibition are arranged into thematic sections and subgroups, as if placed there by the artist himself. The explanatory texts-captions are grouped together outside the showcases so as not to distract the visitor from the experience of entering a workshop space.
An office space, diametrically opposite the entrance and in dialogue with the exhibits, allows visitors to become the artist’s ‘guests’. An archive-library has also been set up in the same section with books, records, objects and musical instruments from Xenakis’s personal collection.
CREDITS
Architect
FLUX - office
Architect
Eva Manidaki
Architect
Thanassis Demiris
Architect
Eleni Arapostathi
Architect
Dimitris Zampopoulos
Photos
Paris Tavitian