Resonant Matter: Sound, Art, and the Promise of Hospitality

Lutz Koepnick's book "Resonant Matter" explores resonance as a model of arts fleeting promise to make us coexist with things strange and other, reflecting on the attachments we pursue to sustain our lives and the walls we need to tear down to secure possible futures.

Format: Paperback / softback
Length: 256 pages
Publication date: 14 January 2021
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing Plc

Lutz Koepnick delves into the realm of contemporary sound and installation art as a remarkable laboratory of hospitality in challenging times. Drawing inspiration from Ragnar Kjartansson's nine-channel video installation "The Visitors" (2012), the book explores the concept of resonance as a model of the fleeting promise of art to coexist with the strange and other. Through a series of nuanced readings, Koepnick traces the echoes of distant, unexpected, and unheard sounds in twenty-first-century art, reflecting on the attachments we pursue to sustain our lives and the walls we need to tear down to secure possible futures.

The book's nine chapters approach "The Visitors" from ever-different conceptual angles, engaging in dialogue with a diverse range of artists and musicians, including Lawrence Abu Hamdan, Guillermo Galindo, Mischa Kuball, Philipp Lachenmann, Alvien Lucier, Teresa Margolles, Carsten Nicolai, Camille Norment, Susan Philipsz, David Rothenberg, Juliana Snapper, and Tanya Tagaq. By positioning resonance as a vital concept in contemporary art criticism and sound studies, Koepnick encourages readers to expand their understanding of the role of sound in art and sound art, while also attuning their critical encounter with art to the resonant thinking inherent within it.

In this captivating exploration, Koepnick invites us to embrace the complexities of our relationship with the unfamiliar and to recognize the transformative power of artistic resonance in shaping our understanding of the world. Through his insightful analysis, he invites us to reimagine our interactions with objects and environments, to cultivate a deeper sense of empathy and connection, and to explore the possibilities of coexistence in a world that often feels inhospitable.

Weight: 396g
Dimension: 152 x 228 x 24 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9781501343674