Sergei Tcherepnin

The Graham Foundation

Madlener House
4 West Burton Place
Chicago, Illinois 60610

Sergei Tcherepnin premieres a new composition for various electronics played through an ensemble of cardboard and aluminum speakers. This project is an expansion of earlier works of his, such as Giving Rein, in which he used 38 channels to articulate a spatial sonic architecture that was constantly in flux.

Sergei Tcherepnin (b.1981, Boston, Mass.) is an artist operating at the intersections of sound, sculpture and theater. Attaching synthesizers, computers and amplifiers to small surface transducers—devices that convert electrical signals into vibrations—he orchestrates complex multichannel compositions in which objects are transformed into speakers. Often invoking queer, hybridized characters such as the Listening Cactus, the Maize Mantis, or the figure of the Pied Piper, Tcherepnin’s scenarios cultivate play between things and bodies, compelling the audience to develop a “score” for handling these animated objects. These interactions suggest new possibilities for intimacy with sound, where “listening” involves a more expansive state of activity: listening by touching, listening by opening, listening by feeling, listening by harnessing, or listening by walking.

His performances and installations include the Museum der Moderne, Salzburg; Overduin & Co., Los Angeles; Whitney Biennial, Whitney Museum of American Art, New York; Roulette, New York; the Museum of Modern Art, New York; Pavilion of Georgia at the 55th Venice Biennale; Murray Guy, New York; The Kitchen, New York; Yvon Lambert, Paris; Karma International, Zurich; Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York; and the 30th São Paulo Biennial. He was a Villa Romana Fellow in 2014.

Presented in partnership with the Graham Foundation

Artist Talk: Sergei Tcherepnin discusses the influence of late artist Maryanne Amacher on his work. He will describe his recent project at the Stedelijk Museum as a part of Supreme Connections, a collective of artists, musicians and researchers devoted to interpreting and presenting the ideas of Amacher. Tcherepnin also will consider Amacher’s notion of “sound characters” and explain how her research on sound and the body relates to his exhibitions. Lampo Annex, Monadnock Building, 53 W. Jackson Blvd. #1656. Friday, March 10, 6 p.m.