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[Exclusive] Sound Art Alert: Kevin Beasley Plays His Sneaker Sculptures

Nike Air Jordan 1 shoes, socks, shoelaces, cables, microphones and speakers become instruments at The Guggenheim.
Strange Fruit (Pair 1). Image by the author

Last Friday night, as visitors sat on pillows in the rotunda of the Guggenheim Museum, artist Kevin Beasley activated his two sound sculptures, Strange Fruit (Pair 1 and Pair 2). Named after the well-known 1939 song by Billie Holiday, the static sculptural works are part of the museum’s summer group show, Storylines: Contemporary Art at the Guggenheim. Comprised of found objects—Nike Air Jordan 1 shoes, socks, shoelaces, cables, microphones and speakers—and covered in resin, the sculptures are suspended from the spiraling gallery. “The Jordans are pretty loaded culturally and I can't seem to move away from them. But what becomes the most potent for me is how they are and can be used as language,” Beasley tells The Creators Project. “The sneakers being a form of communication and memorializing throughout various cultures on electrical lines. This gesture is very specific to its context and that's pretty significant to me in developing meaning.”

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Installation view: Storylines: Contemporary Art at the Guggenheim, Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York, June 5–September 9, 2015. Photo: David Heald © Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York

When activated by the artist, the sneaker sound sculptures produce a series of minimal beats that bounce off the walls of the uniquely constructed building. During his first performance at the museum, Beasley played the works for 40 continuous minutes. “These works came out of a series of questions that function simultaneously. One question being about communication and the slippages of developing meaning through conversations. I had an urgency to deal with the notion of conversation and substance within some type of physical gesture,” says Beasley of why he decided to play his sculptures.

Below watch part of Beasley’s first performance at the Guggenheim:

Kevin Beasley will be performing on selected dates through September 9, 2015 as part of Storylines. For more information, click here.

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