In the works of Arrangements to Ward off Accidents, Dannielle Tegeder adds a musical context to her traditional representations of modernist forms.  The exhibition is divided into two seemingly co-dependent parts—a room of small drawings accompanied by a soundtrack, which serves as a conceptual foundation for the large drawings and mobile sculptures on view in the main space.

The Library of Abstract Sound (2009) is comprised of 115 framed drawings with simple geometric arrangements that clearly evoke Malevich and his contemporaries.  Each drawing is accompanied by a sound-rendering created in a software program that Tegeder commissioned, which scans the work and translates its 2-D surface of shapes and lines into simple music compositions.  

In contrast to the serene environment of the “Library” room, a sense of chaos arises from the large drawings, as their compositions are crowded with dark masses and multiple intersecting lines.  These drawings reflect Tegeder’s previous concern with utopian systems and urban terrains, while incorporating new references to sound.  These allusions are better understood within the context of the installation as a whole, as well as the works’ detailed titles, such as Transmission Music Contraption Machine Plan with Flowing Code (2009) and Geo Chemical Sound Catastrophic Kit (2009).  In effect, the small “Library” drawings appear as a compilation of single instrumental notes, while the larger works express loud noises and swelling tones—a visual embodiment of the sounds of a city.

Images: The Library of Abstract Sound (2009), 115 framed drawings and audio; Arrangements to Ward Off Accidents (2009), Installation view; Transmission Music Contraption Machine Plan with Flowing Code (2009), Gouache, ink, colored pencil, graphite, pastel on Fabriano Murillo paper. Courtesy Priska C. Juschka Fine Art, New York.