By Soleil Cardenas
The Vincent Price Art Museum opened a new exhibit on April 30 called “Sonic Terrains in Latinx Art”.
The museum exhibits the art of 30 trailblazing Latinx sound artists.
The exhibit displays several visual art pieces, some paired with audio. The pieces in the exhibit combine old and new art.
The exhibit’s art pieces share Latinx culture through their powerful messages and sounds.
As soon as one enters the exhibit, one of the first artists introduced is Pauline Oliveros.
Oliveros is a composer, accordionist and humanitarian. Her section of the exhibit displays pictures of herself, her compositions, and her CDs.
An iPad propped up on the wall is connected to headphones playing a Spotify playlist of Oliveros’ music.
She focuses on deep listening and consciousness in her music. Deep listening is her main focus. It is a unique, meditative and improvisatory approach to music.
Next, walking through the exhibit, one comes across a display of Rubén Funkahuatl Guevara. Guevara had a 50-year-career in which he practiced music, performance theater and film.
He created a rock band called Rubén and the Jets that released two albums.
The display contains several flyers from his concerts and cutouts from newspaper articles about him.
To the left of Guevara’s display there is a short documentary playing. It discusses Latinx music culture and its progression throughout the years.
A stand-out piece from the exhibit is “Tarcatá Trabaja” by visual artist Jimena Sarno and musician Axel Krygier. The piece is a sculpture and sound installation that captures attention upon entry.
The sculpture consists of 34 porcelain plates laid out on a stand. At first glance from a distance, one cannot tell what is on the plates.
As one walks closer, one can begin to notice the plates are covered in musical compositions and several plates have a beautiful bird drawn on them.
The bird drawn on the plates is the hornero. The hornero is Argentina’s national bird. The hornero serially procreates and is known for being hard-working. The sounds focus around the bird and the labor it puts into building its home.
The musical composition laid out on the plates are from two onomatopoeias in Argentinian folk songs.
The first is called “Mambo del Hornerito: Tarcatá,” which focuses on sounds of labor being completed. The second is “Chapalea” which is a verb that comes from the sound of squelching in mud.
The hornero on the plates paired with the musical compositions embodies hardworking and laborious times, but is also a reminder not to forget to relax like the birds do as they lay on the plates.
The exhibit is small, but it boasts many amazing art pieces. As spectators walk into the exhibit ,several sounds flood into their eyes from many of the art pieces. Although many different sounds collide and clash, the exhibit can still be enjoyed.
“Sonic Terrains in Latinx Art” is an exhibit worth attending.
“Sonic Terrains in the Latinx Art” is open Wednesday through Saturday noon – 4 p.m. at VPAM. The exhibit is open until July 30.