Co-curated by Bailey Placzek, the Museum’s curator of collections, and Ben Coleman, a British multidisciplinary artist, Still in Sound explores how visitors may experience abstract visual language through sound. In this video, learn more about Maria Chávez and Maya Dunietz’s sound interpretations of Clyfford Still paintings.
Born in Lima, Peru, and based in NYC, Maria Chávez is best known as an abstract turntablist, sound artist, and DJ. Coincidence, chance, and failures are themes that unite her work across mediums, including improvised performance, sound and marble sculpture, visual art, and book objects. Her approach is rooted in Deep Listening, a form of embodied listening developed by her late mentor, Pauline Oliveros. Maria is the only abstract turntablist in the world who performs with a rare needle known as the RAKE Double Needle. This special device contains two needles on one head, allowing it to read two different segments of a single record at the same time. Paired with her inimitable ability to create unforgettable sonic experiences from shards of broken records, each performance is truly unique. Maria’s practice is profoundly expansive, responsive, and curious. Her work has been featured and supported by a myriad of institutions over the past decades, including Rewire Festival, Counterflows Festival, Donau Festival, The Guggenheim Museum, The Getty, The Wire, MOCA Jacksonville, Black Mountain College Museum, and many, many more. Chavez’s 2012 book, Of Technique: Chance Procedures on Turntable, has garnered a reputation as both an academic resource on turntablism and a foundational text for a new generation of turntablists.
Maya Dunietz is an artist and musician who has been performing internationally for the past 30 years. She works in the thin lines between music, visual art, performance, technological research, and philosophy. Her compositions are commissioned by renowned performers and ensembles around the world, such as Saar Berger (Ensemble Modern), Meitar Ensemble, Bat Kol Choir, Hyperion Ensemble, and many more. Her works have been shown in institutions such as Centre Pompidou, Palais de Tokyo, Arnolfini Gallery, Reykjavik Arts Festival, and a major solo exhibition at the KKL in Lucerne.