Grace Farms Foundation presents Joy, still. a new sound installation of three works by artist Julianne Swartz. From September 8, 2018 to March 2019, the multisensory works will be installed in the SANAA-designed River building at Grace Farms, in a variety of spaces with different acoustic qualities, providing opportunities for individual and shared experiences.
The installation is presented as part of the Foundation’s Practicing series, which since 2015 has brought together artists of different disciplines to explore empathy, awe, silence, and joy.
On September 8, a free artist talk will be held at 3 pm in the Sanctuary at Grace Farms, followed by a public reception at 4 pm in the Library.
The most ambitious component of Swartz’s installation is a sixteen-channel composition that can be experienced throughout the Sanctuary, the River building’s glass amphitheater. Speakers placed in the 29,900 square-foot plenum—a vast underground space beneath the concrete floor—emit sound that can be heard as well as felt. In the Library, hand-carved, book-scale objects that transmit poems by Ross Gay, Nicole Sealey, Stanley Kunitz, and Christian Wiman can be picked up off the shelves and “read” by visitors. The Sanctuary and Library spaces are connected by a resonant corridor, which features a four-channel composition including selections from interviews with theologian Willie Jennings and scholar Maria Fee. Using sound samples from the Practicing Joy contributors including poets, essayists, scholars, theologians, composers, musicians, and humorists, Swartz creates a semi-narrative environment that provides a record of the group’s inquiries and discoveries on the subject. The temporary installation will be free and open to the public during Grace Farms’ regular hours.
Practicing Joy | Julianne Swartz Installation Opening
September 8, 2018–March 2019
Public Reception and Artist Talk: September 8; 3 pm; Free
River Building Sanctuary and Library
Join artist Julianne Swartz at the opening of her new collaborative, site-responsive installation at Grace Farms. Located in the SANAA-designed River building, three multi-sensory works synthesize and share the Foundation’s year-long Practicing Joy exploration. The free opening includes a public reception and artist talk with Swartz, Arts Initiative Director Kenyon Adams, and Arts Initiative Curator Pamela Ruggio.
Julianne Swartz lives and works in Stone Ridge, New York. Her work synthesizes light, air, and sound into ephemeral and participatory experiences. Recent projects include a sun harnessing permanent installation for the Art Gallery of Western Australia in Perth, Australia, and a 20-channel sound-scape in a footbridge, for MASS MoCA in North Adams, Massachusetts. Other exhibition venues include: Museum of Arts and Design in New York City, New York; Indianapolis Museum of Art in Indianapolis, Indiana; High Line in New York City, New York; Israel Museum in Jerusalem, Israel; Tate in Liverpool, United Kingdom; Whitney Museum of American Art in New York City, New York; New Museum in New York City, New York; and The Jewish Museum, in New York City, New York. Swartz was a recipient of the Anonymous Was a Woman Award in 2015. She is on the faculty at Bard College in Annandale on Hudson, New York, and serves on the Board of Governors for the Skowhegan School of Painting & Sculpture in Skowhegan, Maine. VCU ICA. Upcoming Huters Point.
