Cornelia Parker (b. 1956, UK)
Negatives of Sound, 1996

MCA Sydney (NSW), Australia / Visited 24/11/2019

Parker has many works with various qualities that appeal to me, but it is her witty conceptuality that I appreciate the most.

“Black lacquer residue from cutting the original grooves in records” presented as “Negatives of Sound” is just such witty observation that would also qualify as “non-cochlear sound art” promoted by Kim-Cohen. What is the opposite of sound? Clearly, not the silence… And it can be presented in a most visual and material way – along with an unexpected perspective and insight (or at least a provocation for thought), yet without enforcing any particular “truth” or “message”. Just what I am often aiming for myself.