The exhibition The Sound of Video - Voice and Rhythm in Audiovisual Art focuses on the manifold relations between the visual and the auditive in video art in particular as well as in sound art. The exhibition was curated with the activities of Komponent/LAB in mind, the latter being the site for experimental electronic music in Copenhagen.

Our immediate interest is sound's ability to call up images; sound can articulate spatial conditions, stimulate mental images, manipulate our senses, activate memories, and sharpen our sense of observation. Sound is an integrated part of everyday experience, it is one of the tools we use to navigate and make sense of our surroundings. We are constantly, more or less consciously, exposed to sound wherever we are. We cannot turn our backs on it, or for that matter take our eyes off of it. In order to escape sound we have to turn it off or move away from it.

Exhibiting art that incorporates sound can be a difficult task. Neither a video work nor a sound work can be contained within a separate sphere. Instead, they will interfere with other works as they mix into their surroundings. One could consider this one of the very distinctive qualities of sound, one of its positive features, and therefore choose to emphasize it within the context of an exhibition. However, we have chosen to divide the exhibition space into separate areas to make sure the individual works are able to present themselves in a clearly delimited way, allowing the specific auditive and visual character of each to stand out.

The Sound of Video - Voice and Rhythm in Audiovisual Art features work by 29 artists from Denmark and abroad who investigate the relations between the visual and the auditive in different ways. We do not attempt to define what audio-visual art is, rather to show the variety of practice within this particular area of contemporary art. The Sound of Video - Voice and Rhythm in Audiovisual Art features different kinds of works most of which are created specifically for this exhibition, encompassing both sound sculptures, video works, and works consisting only of sound.

It is characteristic of the artists we have chosen that they work with both video and sound. One of the criteria behind our selection of works was the use of a cinematographic experience. This term refers to the intensity which the use of sound and voices brings to the visual dimension; sound's ability to seemingly serve as a merely suggestive background for the image. On the other hand, we also include work that establishes a complementary relation between image and sound, the two aspects forming a synthesis. In addition, we work with sound in a broader, more formal sense - as the movement of the work - where the music and/or the rhythm makes up the formalistic organizing principle of the work. For instance, this may be evident in the editing technique using montage or in the use of repetition. Works consisting only of sound are also included in the exhibition. These are primarily sound pieces with a great potential for evoking images, for instance by means of the inclusion of location sound and everyday sounds.

With The Sound of Video - Voice and Rhythm in Audiovisual Art we highlight the many different ways in which image and sound may interact, significantly enhancing the expressive and emotional dimensions of the art work, not to mention the listener's/spectator's experience.