Sound Reasoning is a live commission in response to the exhibition Modern Visionaries: Van Dyck and the Artists’ Eye in which Marcus Coates will explore the potential of performance to seek insight into social and political problems. After inviting members of a live audience to ask questions, Coates will seek answers through improvised performance, collaborating with a multi-instrumental artist to test the scope of sound as a useful form of reasoning.
You are warmly invited to be part of the live audience for this commission, and are encouraged to come with a question prepared, although this is not compulsory. The question could be about anything that is important to you and you struggle to solve – whether global or personal, emotional or pragmatic – but cannot be the sort of question that has a simple yes or no answer, or an answer that can be looked up. The question you ask can be your own or on behalf of a community or group.
Please note: this event will be filmed by the artist for use in a self-contained video work. If you would prefer not to be filmed, please contact madeleine.kennedy@twmuseums.org.uk and you will be offered a seat out of view of the camera.
This event is programmed to accompany Modern Visionaries: Van Dyck and the Artists’ Eye at the Laing Art Gallery, 28 January – 4 June 2017. Van Dyck's self-portrait was acquired by the National Portrait Gallery following a major public appeal with the Art Fund and thanks to the generous support of the Heritage Lottery Fund and others.
