Contour: The 5th Biennale of the Moving Image

Anthony Kiendl curated Contour 5 under the title Sound and Vision: Beyond Reason in the architecturally notable centre of Mechelen, Belgium. The title of the exhibition, borrowed in part from David Bowie’s 1976 song “Sound and Vision,” references the relationship between music and art, exploring the ecstatic potential of music to transcend static forms of representation. The project explored how the human body and physical presence recruit sound, vision and other senses to accumulate meaning. The transformation of experience and consciousness was a key theme, with the body central to its expression. Viewers were asked how music, art, and film construct knowledge, sensibility, and meaning beyond the limits of language and rationality.

The premise of the project was intended to trouble the disciplinary boundaries of art, music, and film and video, presenting a complex matrix of sound and image, signal and noise, perception and meaning. Rather than a traditional exhibition publication, Kiendl produced a vinyl LP record.

Artists in the project included: Dennis Tyfus, Jennifer West, Ann-Mie Van Kerckhoven, Postcommodity, Gabriela Fridriksdottir & Lazyblood, Cory Arcangel, Joachim Koester, Edith Dekyndt, Rodney Graham, Adam Pendleton, Brion Gysin & Ian Sommerville, Lee Ranaldo & Leah Singer, Pierre Bismuth, Chicks on Speed, Dan Graham, and Luis Jacob & Noam Gonick.

Contour 2011 played throughout Mechelen, locating installations within re-purposed architectural spaces ranging from cathedrals and schools to a train station and toy museum. Incorporating the architectural space of the city, Sound and Vision engaged with the social construction of space, emphasizing the role of sound and vision in mobilizing cultural practices and the human body as a conduit for social change.

Contour 5 ran from August 27 to October 30, 2011.