14 April to 25 October 2000
walkmen
Five Commissioned Compositions

The ritual is similar to the situation in many museums: After leaving a small deposit, walkmen can be borrowed as a guide for touring the exhibition with the visitor. Is this an audio guide? Is it choreographed observation? A loss of reality? Are the pictures in the Diözesanmuseum finally being explained after all? – No, this is a “listening exhibition”. Five artists have been asked to compose a piece each for “walkmen”, which has as its central theme inner listening space within a public context. From here, sound determines a totally different perception of the place, the art and the other visitors. And the question arises again concerning the presence of the phenomenon of sound as a technically accessible event that literally follows us: We can hardly escape the omnipresent inundation of acoustic waves. At the same time, the walkman is the preferred means for isolating ourselves from our environment in every day life, i.e. to be private in public. To modify this situation and to make the individual listening space the stage of new experiences is the concern of this exhibition. (Composition by Peter Ablinger, Hugh Davies, Barbara Köhler, Pamela Z and Walter Zimmermann; curated by Manos Tsangaris)

Peter Ablinger: “Weiss/Weisslich o.Nr.” (“White/Whitish”, no number)
Peter Ablinger was born in Schwanenstadt/Austria in 1959. From 1974 to 1982, he studied graphics in Linz. A jazz pianist in Graz, he studied composition with Gösta Neuwirth in Graz and Roman Haubenstock Ramti in Vienna. From 1982 to 1990, he taught at the music school in Kreuzberg. In 1988, he founded the Ensemble “Zwischentöne”. From 1990 to 1992, Ablinger was director of the Klangwerkstadt Sound Workshop Berlin. In 1993, he was guest professor in Graz. 1996, guest composer at the Institute for Electronic Music in Graz. 1997, director of the Insel-Music Series in Berlin. He lives in Berlin.

Hugh Davis: “From Trees and Rocks”
Hugh Davies was born in Exmouth/Devon in 1943. He studied music in Oxford. He was assistant to Karlheiz Stockhausen in Cologne. He has invented and interpreted new musical instruments and sound sculptures as a musicologist with an emphasis on electronic music and sound sources in the 20^th century. From 1967 to 1986, he founded and directed the Studio for Electronic Music at Goldsmiths College, London University. He is a specialist for electronic instruments at the Gemeentemuseum Den Haag. Since 1999, Davies has been researching Sonic Art at the Centre of Electronic Arts, Middlesex University, London. He lives in London.

Barbara Köhler: “Stimmführung”
Barbara Köhler was born near Amerika/Saxony in 1959. From 1985 to 1988, she was at the Institute of Literature, Leipzig. 1991, Deutsches Roulette, Poems. 1995, Blue Box, Poems. 1997, cor responde, with Ueli Michel, Poetry Cycle (German/Portugese). 1999, Wittgenstein’s Niece. Mixed Texts, Mixed Media. Since 1996, text illustrations, text pictures, multiples and texts for public spaces. Has been living in Duisburg since 1994.

Pamela Z: “And on the left …”
Pamela Z was born in Buffalo/New York in 1956. She studied music at the University of Colorado, Boulder. Since 1984, Pamela Z has had solo performances in the USA, Japan and Europe. She has undertaken interpretations of compositions for voice by other composers (Charles Amirkhanian, Henry Brant, Donald Swearingen, etc.) She has also written audio pieces for New American Radio. She has received commissions for compositions for the California E.A.R. Unit and the Bang On A Can Allstars. Pamela Z is founder and director of the interdisciplinary Z Program and a member of the electro-acoustical ensemble sensorChip and the interdisciplinary performance ensemble Qube Chix. She has collaborated with the New Music Theatre and the San Francisco Contemporary Music Players. She lives in San Francisco.

Walter Zimmermann: “Seidenstraße” (“Silk Route”)
Walter Zimmermann was born in Schwabach/Middle Franconia in 1949. From 1968 to 1970, he was a pianist in the ars-nova ensemble. He studied composition with Werner Heider in Nuremberg, with further studies in Utrecht, Amsterdam and the USA. He became acquainted with Morton Feldmann. From 1977 to 1983, Zimmermann was founder and director of the Beginner Studio in Cologne. He has been teaching composition in Liège (since 1982) and Karlsruhe (since 1990). In 1988, he was guest lecturer in Den Haag. From 1992-1993, he was guest professor in Essen. In 1992, Zimmermann undertook the organisation of the festival ANARCHIC HARMONY commemorating the 80^th birthday of John Cage in Frankfurt (together with Stefan Schädler). Since 1993, he has been professor for composition in Berlin. He lives in Berlin.

Art museum of the
Archdiocese of Cologne