Notes from the Underground. Music and Alternative Art in Eastern Europe, 1968-1994

This major exhibition is the product of three years research into the history of underground art and music in Eastern Europe under communist rule. It sets out to demonstrate how the musical/cultural formations of rock and punk penetrated deeply into the visual and performance practices of artists in Eastern Europe. It argues that 'underground' was a label forced on these groups by the largely critical responses of the authorities to what they perceived as threatening aspects of youth culture. The research resulted in a major exhibition - featuring more than 60 works from 8 countries (former Soviet republics, Eastern Bloc states and former Yugoslavia). Many of the original works no longer exist and so the exhibition has also been an investigation into the practices and ethics of reconstruction. The exhibition is accompanied by a 450 pp book largely written and edited by the two curators, Crowley and Muzyczyk. It also features 11 essays / articles in translation from the period, many of which were originally published in samizdat form. The exhibition is planned to travel to Brno in 2017 and Berlin in 2018. it is accompanied by conferences and talks at all venues, including a major conference planned for spring 2018 in Berlin

Sound Art

"This milestone volume maps fifty years of artists' engagement with sound. Since the beginning of the new millennium, numerous historical and critical works have established Sound Art as an artistic genre in its own right, with an accepted genealogy that begins with Futurism, Dada, and Fluxus, as well as disciplinary classifications that effectively restrict artistic practice to particular tools and venues. This book, companion volume to a massive 2012-2013 exhibition at ZKM | Center for Art and Media, Karlsruhe, goes beyond these established disciplinary divides to chart the evolution and the full potential of sound as a medium of art." -- Publisher's website