For her exhibition at La maison rouge, Ann Hamilton has created phora - a title whose ethymology, the Greek pherein, "to bear", evokes the idea of metaphor, and whose sound evokes the Latin fora, "forum", a place of assembly.
The installation extends through the different spaces of the foundation, forming a progression from silence to sound, from sound to voice, from voice to speech and from speech to speaking. How, it asks, do words become things; how is speech transformed in action?
Three public spaces from Paris are connected, incarnating a specific voice:
the Bastille, the voice of the people, synonymous with public demnonstrations,
the Opera Bastille, where the musical (lyric) voice can be heard during performances,
La maison rouge, a former home, now transformed into a contemporary art centre (the artist’s voice).
In her exhibitions, Hamilton reinstates the central, basic role of sensorial experience, metaphorical free association and intuition. She involves visitorsin a sensorial experience. The words come afterwards.
Soundscape and sound engineering under Ann Hamilton’s direction: Anthony Saba.
Photos by Ann Hamilton
Performers: Anne Calas, Dinah Diwan, Ann Hamilton, Anthony Saba, Cecile Tertre.
Curator: Waltraud Forelli-Wallach
