Ann Hamilton

aloud by American artist Ann Hamilton is an invitation to the audience to create sound, on their own or together. Crank up the wind machines! Crank at pace, or not. Create a chorus of whizzing, winking, rustling and thundering. Feel the silk fabric of the wind machines. Touch the wool of the suits. Please dress in your costumes. And put on a hat. Does it increase the sense of community?

Hamilton is internationally recognized for his large-scale sensory installations which are often created for the location where they are exhibited. The works are marked by her interest in materials, language, touch and sound. Through the collective creation of wind in Aloud Hamilton wants to raise awareness of our sensory experiences — primarily what we hear, feel and see. She wants to draw our attention to our physical presence.

The wind machines are based on a model from Drottningholm Palace Theatre. Here they are surrounded by mouths. Some seem to smile, others whisper, shout and laugh. The mouths belong to the wooden figures in the late medieval altar cabinets in the Gothic Hall of the Historical Museum, the site where aloud was premiered. Hamilton has wandered around, swiping a small security camera over the figures' faces. The figures, which originally possessed a spiritual aura, have today become artifacts in a museum. Hamilton is trying to bring them back to life.

Ann Hamilton (b. 1956) was educated at Yale University and today is based in Columbus, Ohio. She single-handedly represented the United States at the 1999 Venice Biennale and has had solo exhibitions at museums worldwide, including MoMA in New York, Tate Liverpool, and the São Paulo Biennale.

aloud belongs to Wanås Konst. The work was produced in 2004 by the Danish Arts Council for the Historical Museum in collaboration with HV Ateljé, Hans Cogne and Erik A Danielssons Snickeri.

^{Photo: Johann Bergenholtz}