The Wire Salon returns after a two
month break with an illustrated talk by historian David Crowley,
exploring the politics of experimentation that reigned in the state
funded radio and recording studios of Eastern Europe during the
1960s and 1970s. The talk, titled In The Experimental Zone: Art And
Music In Eastern Europe In The 1960s And 70s, takes place at
London's Cafe Oto, 11 July, 8pm, £4. Tickets are only available on
the door on the night.
In the aftermath of Stalinism, composers and artists
in Eastern Europe enjoyed new opportunities to experiment.
Recording studios equipped with magnetic tape recorders and, later,
synthesisers were established, first in Warsaw in 1957 and then
throughout Eastern Europe. New forms of musique concrète and
electronic music were produced in these laboratories of sound.
The connections between the visual arts and
experimental music were closer in the 1960s than perhaps any time
before or since. Sound and image combined in artists’ films,
happenings and sound installations. While the innovative and
ambitious nature of their creations is clear, what is far less
certain is the benefits that experimental art and music brought to
the communist project.
In this talk, David Crowley, one of the curators of
Sounding The Body Electric:
Experiments In Art And Music In Eastern Europe 1957-1984, an
exhibition on display from 26 June at East London’s Calvert 22
gallery, will explore the politics of experimentation in Eastern
Europe during the 1960s and 1970s. The talk will focus on the sound
works of Krzysztof Wodiczko, Milan Knížák, Zygmunt Krauze, Dóra
Maurer, Zoltán Jeney, the Bosch + Bosch Group and others, and will
be illustrated with audio and film clips.
David Crowley runs the Critical Writing in Art &
Design MA at the Royal College of Art. He has a long interest in
the arts in Eastern Europe under communist rule.
Listen to a playlist of tracks ahead of the Salon
here.
