The Last Refuge

Galerie Mazzoli is proud to present “The Last Refuge,” the sixth solo exhibition by Douglas Henderson at its Berlin location.
Sound art can certainly be regarded as a medium of its own, for it is neither a purely acoustic nor a purelysculptural art form, but rather both or something in between. It was established by composers and musicianswith one foot planted in the world of music who then ventured into the visual realm and found firm footingthere, and by visual artists whose work naturally developed an acoustic dimension without them necessarilydefining themselves as composers. Sound art is a field in which many new and surprising developments are stilltaking place. Largely banal attempts to visualize music or to set visual art to music have been left behind as ithas asserted its independence and its own niche, promising multi-layered, multi-sensory experiences thatdirectly confront human perception.
It is rare to encounter a sound artist who has, as well as being a professionally-trained composer withexperience in many sub-genres of electronic music, ventured so deeply and with such formal certainty into therealm of installation art that he can be called a sculptor without any reservations: Douglas Henderson is anexceptional and multi-talented artist, and a true inventor when it comes to the physical generation ofphenomena that are simultaneously optical and acoustic. Everything about his objects and installations isimmediately visible and audible because his ingenuity lies in revealing phenomena that are easily understood buthave simply never been integrated in such a way before, resulting in kinetic works of art that are so astonishingthat one can hardly believe what one is seeing and hearing. Henderson has not only developed a particularlykeen sense for the innovative interplay of acoustic, mechanical, and optical phenomena that can be united in awork of art, but also the considerable craftsmanship to transfer this into concrete objects.
The installation "The Last Refuge" features three kinetic objects with three blue flags that twitch and spinatop various pedestals. The mechanics are driven by vibrations from embedded loudspeakers. We hear whatseems to be music; harmonies can be perceived. For this piece, the artist sampled a record produced by theUnited Nations that features 28 different national anthems performed by an orchestra, breaking them downinto rather pathetic, unidentifiable sounds. For this mix of anthems paired with waving flags in a UnitedNations shade of blue, the title “The Last Refuge” refers to a quotation by English writer Samuel Johnson:"Patriotism is the last refuge of the scoundrel." The three waving flags seem to be in conversation. Theirmovement is achieved through various means, but primarily with brushes and loudspeakers that set themselvesin motion through their own vibrations. Playful and comical, but by no means l'art pour l'art. Here we seeHenderson's enigmatic irony: the funny flags of the installation point to the dark side of a stale internationalismthat can potentially be used to hide bad intentions and particularistic, nationalistic ideas.
On the other side of the front room, a related work bears the title “16 Tons.” Its blue, waving flag wobblesprecariously on a partial hemisphere, and again, the artist’s critical engagement with political world eventsflashes through the cheerful and humorous nature of his works: The soundtrack is based on the same United Nations recordings, but only the anthems’ final, tonic harmonies. The main part of the sculpture is tethered to aweight on the ground with “16 Tons” written as a relief. This refers to a song of the same title from the 1940sthat Tennessee Ernie Ford made into a number one hit in 1955, which critiques the systematic exploitation ofcoal miners. Considering how Henderson has expanded his work to hint at topics such as low wages,dependencies that resemble slavery, and authoritarianism, which unfortunately remain prevalent around theworld, such a flag waving nicely to such globally prevalent political and social controversies seemssimultaneously comical and cynical, particularly with the endlessly repeating, final chords in a major key.
The gallery’s two back rooms are populated with works that focus on sounds that are not to be heard, butrather to be seen. "tremble,” for example, transfers the vibrations of six individually controlled loudspeakers,which lie below 20 hertz and are no longer audible to the human ear, into visible movement, which six hangingsilk squares precisely translate into composed wave patterns. In the process, different patterns are created in anendless loop on the coordinated cloth panels, which together perform a kind of choreography. The mechanicsbehind this are visible and self-explanatory when it comes to the transmission of the frequencies. The overallimpression is that of an unknown, waving flag.
"Shimmy" is constructed similarly to "tremble,” and employs the same principle to make patterns appearand disappear in silk fabric. Two overlapping sheets of silk reveal distinct interference patterns as one passes by.However, whenever sound is present, the silk fabrics start to vibrate, and these disappear once again.
A series of works with the title “Various Silences” consist of loudspeakers that do not produce any sound atall, but instead refer to concrete art and optical art with wave patterns visible on the relief of the loudspeakerchassis. When the viewer passes by, different linear curvatures become visible depending on their position, untila certain perspective reveals parallel lines. This dynamic transformation draws attention to the finely structuredsculptural and wave-like form of the chassis. In the middle of these “Silences,” we encounter a drawing of adangerous object—silence may sound like tranquility and eternity, but can it last? The fuse is lit. And it’s short.

Martin Schick