Resonance/Dissonance

Resonance is the quality of a sound that stays loud, clear, and deep for a long time. In music, resonating tones are notes, which compose chords, which, in turn, compose songs. But resonance is also a state of being. More than a physical process, resonance can be personal and purely emotional. For something to resonate, it must evoke something meaningful and important to a person, like an emotion, a memory, an image, an idea, or a belief. Dissonance is a harsh, disagreeable combination of sounds; discord. In music it is characterized by clashing or unresolved musical intervals or chords. Dissonance is also a lack of agreement, consistency, or harmony; a state of conflict that cannot be resolved and can affect beliefs, emotions, and physiology.

A group exhibition drawn from the de la Cruz Collection, Resonance/Dissonance features work in single-channel video by six prominent women artists, Tracey Emin, Aida Ruilova, Quisqueya Henriquez, Sarah Morris, Beatriz Monteavaro and Susanne M. Winterling. These artists employ striking visuals along with sounds ranging from classical music to punk rock, to discordant sounds, to absolute silence in order to explore a wide range of themes.

Bringing together these works in an immersive environment, Resonance/Dissonance demonstrates the powerful ways in which these artists have employed single-channel video and sound as a platform for formal and conceptual experimentation. The works expose the range of video’s artistic potential, and how the artists have used the medium to explore the themes of gender, violence, sexuality, politics, popular culture and the body. 

Credit: Exhibition overview from museum website