Repose by Yann Novak

Opening on 10 February 2017, Yann Novak’s latest solo exhibition Repose features an audiovisual installation and a series of chromatic prints curated by Suzy Halajian. The week long exhibition at Human Resources, a non-profit space located in Los Angeles’ Chinatown, closes with a special performance by Rebecca Bruno, Sarah Rara and Geneva Skeen on Saturday, 18 February 2017.

Repose is concerned with the way context influences perception and the reciprocal relationship between the two values. Novak’s practice explores the abstraction and reconfiguration of sound through digital media; for the central installation work in Repose he presents a monolithic sound work constructed from synthetic timbres, which is accompanied by a projection of shifting light. The piece questions traditional ideas of composition by colliding them with digital structures and concepts.

Alongside the installation Novak presents a series of prints titled Repose.Heptaptych. The series comprises seven works, which extract the seven main colours used in the installation. The prints are made on acoustic absorption panels, which limit the ambient sound outside the installation; as such they are, in a sense, sound works in themselves. Through the relationship between the prints and the installation Novak emphasises the inseparability of sound and context.

The exhibition is part of a long-running project which was first presented in Cocky Eek’s inflatable SPHÆRÆ at the AxS Festival 2014. For this 2-17 iteration of the project Novak frames his investigation in the context of the US election results, asking the question, “How do the economic, political, and social problems of the United States recode our collective listening experience? What does it mean to come together as participants, as subjects, and allies in this context?”

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Repose is on at Human Resources located at 410 Cottage Home St, Los Angeles, CA 90012, USA from 10-18 February 2017. Gallery Hours: February 11-12 & February 15-18, noon-5pm.