ODAWARA ART FOUNDATION

Odawara Art Foundation is pleased to welcome Christian Marclay, who will stage the sound performance “Found in Odawara” as the second event in the Contemporary Art Project series at Enoura Observatory launched in 2019.

Christian Marclay burst onto the scene in the late 1970s as a pioneering experimental turntablist, using turntables and records as interactive musical instruments, and since the 1990s has presented conceptual works applying collage techniques to various materials including sound. In recent years, he has carried out projects in Venice, Italy and Huddersfield, UK incorporating sounds produced by everyday objects. Found in Odawara will consist of two days of improvisational music, featuring Marclay and five other musicians and performers, at Enoura Observatory established by contemporary artist Hiroshi Sugimoto.

Title: Odawara Art Foundation Contemporary Art Project Vol. 2
　　　 “Christian Marclay: Found in Odawara”
Dates: Saturday, November 27 & Sunday, November 28, 2021 from 1:30pm to 4:30pm
Venue: Enoura Observatory
Tickets: 3,300 yen (includes admission fee to Enoura Observatory)
Performers: Christian Marclay, Otomo Yoshihide, Koichi Makigami, Akio Suzuki, Fuyuki Yamakawa, Ami Yamasaki

・Reservations are required to enter Enoura Observatory. Reservations can be made through Book Your Visit page (Japanese page only) from October 29.
・Information regarding transportation routs to Enoura Observatory will be posted within the coming week.

After 3 decades of using vinyl records to create music, I started making sounds with everyday objects found in the city where I am invited to perform. I use common objects as if they were musical instruments. These improvised performances are usually done in collaboration with at least one instrumentalist. The first such concert took place in 2012 in Japan, at a small festival in Beppu, where I performed with Otomo Yoshihide. I went to Japan empty handed and found what I needed there. I will do the same in Odawara.

The improvisation-based performance combines the sounds of the accompanying instrumentalists with those I create by manipulating, striking, or rubbing objects found on location. Unlike Music Concrete, where everyday sounds were recorded and distorted in playback—by slowing or speeding up the recording, or highly amplifying it—I believe in the natural acoustic potential of any object and will not amplify their sound.

I also find that working acoustically engages the audience a lot more. Listeners are more attentive when sounds are not thrown at them violently by amplification. They have to pay closer attention, and listen to the small sounds with a more active engagement.

Christian Marclay

Photo by The Daily Eye

Christian Marclay was born in California, USA in 1955, and was raised in Geneva, Switzerland. He received his Bachelor of Fine Arts from the Massachusetts College of Art in Boston, and continued his studies at Cooper Union in New York. Long based in Manhattan, in recent years he has been living in London. In 1979 Marclay presented his first performance using turntables, and quickly gained recognition as an important figure in experimental music for his pioneering approach to records as interactive musical instruments. In addition to improvisational performances, since the 1980s he has been known for his artworks exploring the connections between sight and sound.
At the 54th Venice Biennale (2011), Marclay was recognized as the best artist in the official exhibition, winning the Golden Lion for his work The Clock (2010). He has presented solo exhibitions at major museums throughout the world such as the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (Los Angeles, California, USA, 2019), Barcelona Museum of Contemporary Art (Barcelona, Spain, 2019), Aargauer Kunsthaus (Aarau, Switzerland, 2015), Whitney Museum of American Art (New York, USA, 2010), in addition to releasing several albums such as Record Without a Cover (1985), More Encores (1988) and Records (1997). He has performed and recorded with numerous musicians including John Zorn, Elliott Sharp, Sonic Youth, Fred Frith, Steve Beresford, Okkyung Lee, and Otomo Yoshihide.