Black album / white cube
de Alex Paulick, Marie Louise Schoondergang, Max Dax, Dirk Luckow, Nathanja van Dijk
What happens when musicians adopt ideas from the art world?And what paintings, sculptures and video works arise when visual artists allow themselves to be influenced by music? This is the common thread of the exhibition 'Black Album / White Cube ? A Journey into Art and Music', curated by Max Dax, the former editor-in-chief of Spex and Electronic Beats Magazine. The book features modern classics such as Peter Saville?s album cover design of Joy Division?s 'Unknown Pleasures' (and a meditation on their derivatives), Emil Schult?s 'Autobahn' painting for Kraftwerk, as well as Arthur Jafa?s apocalyptic video installation APEX that rewrites pop history to the pulsating beat of a Detroit techno track by Robert Hood. The mutual influences between music and art become evident when Albert Oehlen is referencing Scooter and Rotterdam?s Euromasters in his paintings, and in photographs by Andrea Stappert, Anton Corbijn, Sven Marquardt, Luci Lux and Wolfgang Tillmans. Video works by Cyprien Gaillard, Mark Leckey and Daniel Blumberg extend this approach into the realm of film. The book features numerous background interviews that Max Dax has conducted with the participating artists ? including Kim Gordon, Thomas Ruff and Michaela Melián. Further insight into the curator?s own practice is provided by an in-depth conversation with Hans Ulrich Obrist.00Exhibition: Kunsthal Rotterdam, The Netherlands (20.06.2020 - 10.01.2021).