Throughout the 1970s, a drive towards the diversification of mediums available to artists led to artists working across numerous mediums not usually associated with visual art. While some came to work with sound as a central focus in their practice, most used sound as a medium to be employed in particular artworks for conceptual purposes. In addition, numerous newly opened alternative art galleries were excited by the new practices, producing at least ten audio/sound exhibitions in NYC between 1978-1984.

The talk will focus on sound exhibitions presented in New York City between 1978 and 1984. These exhibitions have all but disappeared from the history of sound in art and from art history in general. The exhibitions point to an understanding of sound as a medium of visual art that is at odds with contemporary scholarship in the sonic arts, which favours a music-based understanding of approaches to sound within the art gallery. The talk will draw from the paper Sound in Sight and the forthcoming book Material Sound (Goldsmiths Press), expanding the archival research close to where many of these art spaces initially stood.

Dr. Caleb Kelly is Professor of Media Art Theory at the University of New South Wales, Sydney. He is author of Gallery Sound and editor of Sound (Documents of Contemporary Art). He curates sound intensive exhibitions including Sound, Materials + the Black Mountain College (2019) for the Black Mountain College Museum + Arts Center in Asheville.