Listening on Display
Exhibiting Sounding Artworks, 1960s to the Present
1st Edition
Published on 5. February 2026
232 pages
979-8-7651-3625-6 (ISBN)
Description
Listening on Display provides an empirical investigation of the historically, culturally, and socially contingent ways in which artists, curators, and visitors relate to sounds in contemporary art exhibitions.
Sounding artworks have appeared regularly in contemporary art exhibitions since the 1960s,
yet scholars of art history, musicology, sound studies, and museum studies have long noted
the experiential difficulties this development poses. They describe how sounds challenge the
sensory hierarchy of the museum, how they disrupt the venerable silence of the white cube,
or how they drown in the ambient noise of galleries.
This book explores the listening experiences of artists, visitors, curators, and technicians
in more than twenty exhibitions that have taken place at contemporary art museums,
alternative art spaces, and other venues in Germany and the United States since the 1960s.
Through archival research, visitor book analysis, interviews, and observations drawing on
sensory ethnography, Semmerling brings together their ideas and ideals about aesthetic
ambitions, sensory abilities, cultural conventions, and technological standards. In doing so, this
book lays the groundwork for rethinking sound in exhibition spaces.
Sounding artworks have appeared regularly in contemporary art exhibitions since the 1960s,
yet scholars of art history, musicology, sound studies, and museum studies have long noted
the experiential difficulties this development poses. They describe how sounds challenge the
sensory hierarchy of the museum, how they disrupt the venerable silence of the white cube,
or how they drown in the ambient noise of galleries.
This book explores the listening experiences of artists, visitors, curators, and technicians
in more than twenty exhibitions that have taken place at contemporary art museums,
alternative art spaces, and other venues in Germany and the United States since the 1960s.
Through archival research, visitor book analysis, interviews, and observations drawing on
sensory ethnography, Semmerling brings together their ideas and ideals about aesthetic
ambitions, sensory abilities, cultural conventions, and technological standards. In doing so, this
book lays the groundwork for rethinking sound in exhibition spaces.
More details
Edition
1. Auflage
Language
English
Place of publication
New York
United States
Publishing group
Bloomsbury Publishing Plc
Target group
Professional and scholarly
ISBN-13
979-8-7651-3625-6 (9798765136256)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions
Book
approx. 02/2026
Bloomsbury Academic USA
€124.00
Not yet published
Person
Linnea Semmerling is Assistant Professor in Sound Studies and Sound Art at Leiden
University, Netherlands, and Director of the Düsseldorf Inter Media Art Institute, Germany.
She worked as associate editor on Sound Art: Sound as a Medium of Art (2019) and recently
co-edited books about punk media history (2023) and electronic composer Conrad
Schnitzler (2023).
University, Netherlands, and Director of the Düsseldorf Inter Media Art Institute, Germany.
She worked as associate editor on Sound Art: Sound as a Medium of Art (2019) and recently
co-edited books about punk media history (2023) and electronic composer Conrad
Schnitzler (2023).
Content
Acknowledgments
Introduction: Listening on Display
1. Studying Exhibitions with Sounding Artworks: Methodological Reflections
2. The Exhibition as Social Ritual: How to Do Things with Sound
3. The Exhibition as Institutional Convention: Rehearsing Sensory Repertoires
4. The Exhibition as Taskscape: Negotiations of Attention
Conclusions: Beyond Noisy White Cubes and Silent Black Boxes
Appendix: Exhibition Overview
Bibliography
Index
Introduction: Listening on Display
1. Studying Exhibitions with Sounding Artworks: Methodological Reflections
2. The Exhibition as Social Ritual: How to Do Things with Sound
3. The Exhibition as Institutional Convention: Rehearsing Sensory Repertoires
4. The Exhibition as Taskscape: Negotiations of Attention
Conclusions: Beyond Noisy White Cubes and Silent Black Boxes
Appendix: Exhibition Overview
Bibliography
Index
