still from Marisa Olson’s “Performed Listening: H” (2007)

On Friday November 9th from 7pm to 10pm, Over The Opening is pleased to present “Performed Listening” by Marisa Olson

Marisa Olson’s work often grows out of fan culture and her Performed Listening series explores the relationship between performer and spectator by underscoring the performativity of listening and watching. Began as a series of seemingly-silent performances in which Olson would listen to music on headphones, in a public context, the series has evolved into performances that sometimes incorporate other spectators and an expanded series of videos. In these tapes of Olson listening to music, the visual qualities are modified according to the sonic elements of the music being listened to.

For her exhibition, Olson installs two previous works from the Performed Listening series: “Easy Listening” (2005) and “Black and White” (2006). Olson also debuts “Performed Listening: H” (2007). In this new work, video of the artist listening to the Velvet Underground’s song, Heroin, is distorted by an analog “colorizer.”

Marisa Olson’s work (marisaolson.com) has recently been presented by the Whitney Museum, the New Museum of Contemporary Art, the 52nd Biennale di Venezia, the Pacific Film Archive, Postmasters Gallery, and the New York Underground Film Festival. permanent link to this post