The San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (SFMOMA) announces the exhibition “Art of Noise,” on view through August 18, 2024, celebrating groundbreaking design that enhances and visualizes our musical experiences.
From concert posters to record albums, phonographs to digital music players, handheld radios to surround sound, Art of Noise takes visitors on an exploration of how design has shaped our relationship to music over the last century. Drawn largely from SFMOMA’s collection, the exhibition covers the Floor 7 galleries with a staggering 800 artworks: 550 posters, 150 album covers, 100 design objects and four large-scale installations that merge inventive design and audio.
Art of Noise spans the gamut of design for music, from pioneering products and high-tech audio engineering to DIY graphics designed for live venues. Museumgoers will have the rare opportunity to see a floor-to-ceiling installation of rock posters and album covers—a dazzling array of influential and often familiar designs that remain imprinted on our memory. Visitors will also enjoy communal
listening spaces and unique sound environments designed by teenage engineering and Yuri Suzuki, as well as live-curated experiences in Devon Turnbull’s audio sculpture, to be activated by musicians and audio archivists throughout the run of the exhibition.