A survey of the sonic vanguard, Impossible Music brings together sounds, scores, sculptures, video, and live performances to explore the radical, interdisciplinary potential of conceptual and experimental music. The group exhibition features work across mediums by boundary-defying composers, artists, and collectives including Terry Adkins, Black Quantum Futurism, Nikita Gale, Sarah Hennies, Tom Johnson, Christine Sun Kim, Conlon Nancarrow, Aki Onda, and C. Spencer Yeh.
Impossible Music calls attention to the transformative power of sound as a tool for social change, innovation, and empowerment. From the banned to the bombastic, the exhibition highlights the work of visionary artists who pushed music forward, defying norms and piloting new forms of expression.
Impossible Music is curated by Candice Hopkins and Raven Chacon and organized by the ICA Pittsburgh (formerly Miller ICA), Pittsburgh. Organized at TUAG by Dina Deitsch.
Darkwater Record, 2003 - 2008, Courtesy of the artist and Paula Cooper Gallery
Mmere Dane: Black Time Belt, Courtesy of the artist
DRRRUMMERRRRRR, 2019 – ongoing, Courtesy of Reyes | Finn
Untitled [Imaginary music series], 1975, Courtesy of àngels barcelona
Mei-Jia & Chih-Fu, 2023, Courtesy of the artist
Six Types of Waiting in Berlin, 2017, Courtesy of François Ghebaly (Los Angeles | New York)
Studies for Player Piano (Study #5, Study #12, Study #21, Study #27, Study #36)
Contralto, 2017, Courtesy of the artist
Spirits Known and Unknown, 2021, Courtesy of the artist
• Think about the title of the exhibition. What do you think the curators mean by calling some music impossible? How are the artists in this exhibition composing or addressing impossibility?
• Artists such as Black Quantum Futurism, C. Spencer Yeh and Sarah Hennies invite us to think about the ways sound and music can reflect one's identity. How are these artists using their work to center different voices?
• In what ways has music and musical expression played a role in or functioned as a tool of resistance?
• Many of the artists in Impossible Music are experimenting with new forms of sound, music, or art practice. Are there areas in your life or activities you participate in where you employ strategies of experimentation or improvisation? How are these practices generative?