An interactive exploration of the ways in which spaces, environments, and everyday experiences are designed by sound
June 29, 2017 – October 28, 2017
It is difficult to resist the temptation offered by a large seashell, which seduces us to listen to the “sounds of the sea.” The experience of feeling the shell in one’s hand, holding it close to one’s ear, and succumbing to its sound has a magical quality, while the impression that we are listening to sounds captured within the shell provokes a sense of wonder, even though we know that this is factually incorrect.
That is the power of sound – at once mystical and scientific, immediate and total. Sound is capable of inviting listeners on a journey through the realms of both the real and the abstract, and of impacting both subjective experience and the environment in which it unfolds.
Roy Yahalomi, Form follows Sound, 2014, Photo: Dor Kedmi
As this exhibition demonstrates, sound is not merely a backdrop to the unfolding of our daily routines; rather, it is a central element that is shaped by culture and shapes it in turn.
No silence is louder than a library’s hushed “shshsh,” no noise is as inaudible as the siren sounded on Memorial Day, and no sound awakens greater hope than the quiet before the storm. When combined with social and cultural insights, the complex relationship between sound and matter, body and space, allows for a new understanding of the environment and of human behavior within it. This understanding is based on attention and listening, and not just on observation and touch.
Photo: Shai Ben Efraim
Although the world of design is identified with physical and visual elements such as materials, color, and texture, sound – which is usually perceived as an abstract element – is one of the most significant “raw materials” in the designer’s toolbox, regardless of whether he is concerned with the design of an object, an item of clothing, a room, or a building. Sound assists us in defining spaces and orienting ourselves within them. Since it is based on vibrations, it also triggers physiological and emotional reactions in the listener.
The relationship between sound and design is examined in this exhibition through three different prisms: object, space, and environment. The Upper Gallery features an exhibition curated by Anat Safran, Lila Chitayat and Elisabetta Pisu, containing over 50 objects designed from the 1960s to the present. The exhibits on display in this gallery are divided into three categories: stationary, mobile, and interactive objects, which exemplify the conceptual shift from object design to the design of a user experience. The Dr. Shulamit Katzman Gallery (the Lower Gallery) features Sensing Sound, an original interactive installation designed as an open platform. The installation includes original sound works composed especially for this space, which are translated into visual representations influenced by the movement of the visitors. The gallery is thus transformed into an echoing chamber, offering visitors a multi-sensory experience that underscores the connection between design, space, and sound.
Dana Hakim Bercovich, Pendants from Crafted Fear, 2015, Photo: Shai Ben Efraim
The Design Laboratory features the exhibition Loops, which includes items from the museum collection whose form expresses values identified with the world of music and sound, such as repetition and rhythm. The Round Corridor of the Museum features the solo exhibition Through the Mesh, curated by Yael Taragan of jeweler DanaHakim Bercovich, who makes use of the metal mesh used in speakers as a support for her jewelry. The work process leading to the creation of these pieces is presented alongside the works by means of sound, images, and materials.
The work The Architecture of Sound / The Sound of Architecture which is located at the entrance to the museum, integrates sound elements into the museum architecture. It transforms the museum into a structure that performs a unique musical creation, in which the visitors are the chief performers.
We invite you to listen to the sounds with your body, interpret the space through sounds, and listen to your body within the surrounding environment. This is an invitation to become sound.
Photo: Shai Ben Efraim
Upper Gallery Achille and Pier Giacomo Castiglioni | Mario Bellini | Raymond Loewy | Dieter Rams and Hans Gugelot | Paolo Caviglia | Gramovox | Paul Cocksedge | Thomas Feichtner | Oliver Staiano | Samuel Accoceberry | Paolo Cappello | Camilla Lee | Rosenthal GmbH | Francesco Pellisari | Amadeus and Jean Nouvel | Matali Crasset | Ron Arad | Philippe Starck | Ross Lovegrove | Carmine Daganello and Pablo Pardo | Richard Sapper and Marco Zanuso | Charlotte Juillard & Dominique Mafrand | Bakery Studio | Pauline Deltour | Spalvieri & Del Ciotto | Mathieu Lehanneur | Yuri Suzuki | Andrew Beaumont | Renaud Defrancesco | Filippo Protasoni | Eunhee Jo | Digital Habits | Leon Brown | Sharona Merlin | Luka Or | Ezri Tarazi | Celia Torvisco and Raphaël Pluvinage | Alessandro Mendini | Roland Lamb | Toon Welling and David Menting | Esteban de la Torre and Judit Eszter Kárpáti| Esteban Cardona and Benson Rong | Kenneth Tay | Roy Yahalomi | panGenerator| Marianne Cauvard | Gal Sasson | Pierre Charrié | Lievore Altherr Molina | Fabio Lattanzi Antinori and Alicja Pytlewska | Shmuel Linski | Sasha Leikin | Koby Sibony | Nofar Hipsher | Roy Harpaz | Yakir Buaron | Julijonas Urbonas | Diego Dall’Osto | Adrien Garcia | Andrea Vigani | Vincent Wikstrom
The Collection Galleries Dana Hakim Bercovitch | Freshwest (Moooi) | Tord Boontje (Artecnic) | Peter Marigold | Talila Abraham | Jessica Smith (Studio Printworks) | Ingo Maurer | Marti Guixé (Drug) | Raw Edges Design Studio | Koby Levy | Yaacov Kaufman | Daniella Saraya | Lea Gottlieb (Gottex) | Issey Miyake + Reality Lab (Artemide) | Mika Orstav | Adi Zaffran
The Dr. Shulamit Katzman Gallery (The Lower Gallery) Ilan Green | Rupert Huber| Gilad Kahana | The Hazelnuts | Giori Politi | Ohad Fishof | Alon Peretz | Daniel Meir
