Photo by Wes Magyar
Located throughout the museum as part of Colorado in the Present Tense
Denver-based Nathan Hall occupies spaces throughout the building and the rooftop with sound-based works that explore the sonic arc of 2020. Moving through the interstitial spaces of the museum, including stairwells, the elevator, the restrooms on the first floor, and the entry ramp to the building, his multi-channel project surfaces the cacophony, silence, and variability that defined the aural landscape of our city over the past year.
Each part of this project fuses together a range of source material, from politically charged events to moments of heartbreak, grief, and hope. The emotional tenor of the work results in how it elicits an intensity of response from the audience. Hall's work invites personal memories to bring the sonic arc to life; listeners' recollections commingle with his aural history to complete each section. Visitors are encouraged to journey through time as well, moving through the building punctuated by moments of history and personal reflection.
Experience a taste of Nathan Hall: Soundscape 2020 in this walkthrough of the spaces where his installation can be found at MCA Denver.
In this hour-long program, artist Nathan Hall takes virtual visitors on a tour of his work and brings together his collaborators for a discussion of this audio diary and a reflection of the year that was 2020.
Experience Nathan Hall's entire Soundscape 2020 with closed captioning and American Sign Language Interpretation.
We asked our audience to send us recordings of the sounds that defined their past year. Nathan Hall then combined them into this symphony of sound.
Photo by Lewis Neef
Composer and artist Nathan Hall has been called "a try-anything aural dreamer with the skills and programming genius to mount ideas both intriguing and outrageous” (Westword Magazine). Nathan uses music as an artistic medium to explore a variety of fields including science, nature, the fine arts, history, and sexuality. There is an emotional resonance present in all of Nathan’s works, from his traditional classical pieces for chamber ensembles to experimental electronic pieces, sound sculptures, and multimedia projects. Nathan’s drive for making site-specific work is tied to his passions for travel and cultural exchange, while other works are inspired by the composer’s sexuality and experiences as a gay man, creating a special intimacy between performer, place, and audience.
Nathan Hall was born in 1982 in Springville, New York and currently lives and works in Denver. He received a BA from Vassar College, MM from Carnegie Mellon and his Doctorate in Musical Arts (DMA) from CU Boulder. His works have been performed and exhibited in 14 countries and 12 US States, by the Royal Scottish National Orchestra, the String Orchestra of Brooklyn, Buntport Theater, Tenth Intervention, GALA Choruses, Playground Ensemble, The Gay/Lesbian Chorus of San Francisco, Icelandic choirs, pianist Adam Tendler, a convention of roller coaster enthusiasts, and porn star Dirk Caber, among others. Recent residencies have included Mattress Factory (Pittsburgh, PA), Skaftfell Art Center (Seyðisfjörður, Iceland), and Denver Art Museum's first Creative in Residence. He was a Fulbright Fellow to Iceland and a McKnight Visiting Composer. He is currently Adjunct faculty in Music Composition at the University of Denver.
Artist and composer Nathan Hall will explore the sonic arc of 2020 through a series of different sound installations. Occupying the interstitial spaces of the museum, including stairwells and the elevator, as well as the rooftop, his multi-channel project will reflect on the cacophony, silence, and variability that defined the aural landscape of our city over the past year.
Take the sounds home with you and experience sound like never before!
