Kimball Art Center dives into sound experiences with new exhibit

Photo: Kimball Art Center

PARK CITY, Utah — Kimball Art Center dives into immersive experiences emphasizing sound with their new exhibit (Re)sounding, which will run from May 15 to September 13 at 1251 Kearns Blvd in Park City.

Sound is around us all the time. We are impacted by sound but don’t actively think about it often. “All of the pieces in this show really connect with us in unique ways that make us think about sound a little bit more intentionally,” says Alexandra Regenold, the Kimball Art Center Marketing and Communication Director. “Nancy Stoaks, our curator, does such a beautiful job of bringing really unique shows to us in Park City.”

(Re)sounding exhibits the work of 15 artists: Jon Bernson, Janet Cardiff & George Bures Miller, Maria Chávez, Spencer Finch, Jónsi, Christine Sun Kim, Jacob Kirkegaard, Tuomas A. Laitinen, Christian Marclay, Milad Mozari, Andy Rappaport, Yuri Suzuki, and Mary Toscano & Andrew Rease Shaw.

Janet Cardiff and George Bures Miller, who live and work in British Columbia, bring a major installation to (Re)sounding. The duo has shown their immersive audio-visual installations on five continents winning awards such as Germany’s Käthe Kollwitz Prize and the Benesse Prize at the Venice Biennale.

Jon Bernson, who is an Emmy and two-time Peabody Award–winning media artist, focuses on the impact of climate change in this exhibit. His interdisciplinary work spans film, theater, audio-visual art, and music. Two of his art installations are in this exhibition. Walk into the center of three old-style tape recorders dangling from the ceiling and you will have a unique experience every time. Close your eyes and you will be transported into wetlands in audio from documentaries, music that Jon himself created, and custom wetlands audio that’s all layered on top of one another. Since the tape recorders play at different speeds, no two people will experience the same sound environment.

“I feel that wetlands are important to the issue of climate change, but they’re often overlooked because they’re sort of an understated biome,” says Bernson. “Wetlands actually sequester far more carbon even than rain forests, so they’re super important to climate change and global warming. I wanted to bring some attention to that.”

His other art installation is called “Portable Glacier Museum,” and it focuses on glacial melt that’s happening at higher altitudes throughout the world. “I figured that would be resonant here in Park City,” adds Bernson, who is from San Francisco. He has been working on portable museums dedicated to biomes for about six years but started working with tape players when he was seven.

(Re)sounding is an immersive exhibition combining audio, visual and interactive artworks. It’s an invitation to open up your senses and re-explore the world around us.

The exhibit opens Friday, May 15, with a reception from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m featuring art tours, cash bar, and treats. RSVP to attend this free opening event.