Lisson Gallery is pleased to announce the first UK solo exhibition of drawings by Berlin based artist Jorinde Voigt. Voigt’s large - scale works on paper are composed of intricately drawn networks of sweeping arcs, arrows, lines and labels recalling written recordings of sonic vibrations. Referred to by the artist as notations or scores, her work uses a unique visual language to represent subjects such as bass frequencies and musical melodies. The process of Voigt's notation is not merely the mapping, but the construction of a new way of seeing the world in all its complexity, diversity and simultaneity.
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Employing concepts and terms from subjects varying from music, to philosophy, to mathematics, Voigt’s work attempts to record the physical world in intense algorithmic detail. Reminiscent of seismographic or geological readings, the drawings evoke the atmosphere of a rare moment, depicting the multiplicity inherent in concepts of time, space and speed.
Voigt’s work is informed in part by her studies of philosophy and literature, and points to the limitations of these practices; “I felt the study of philosophy was limited by sentences” she explains. Having also studied the cello intensively from the age of nine, Voigt’s artistic interaction with music is an influence in her current work. She says “I knew how the musical score functioned, how it’s meant to be read. It wasn’t hard for me to exchange a note of music for an idea, situation or action.”
For Voigt, the aim of her work is to uncover the truths behind objectivity and subjectivity. Working as a photographer early in her career, Voigt grew frustrated by its claims of being a truthful medium. She says, “I decided to stop photographing and just write down the reasons why I would have done the photographs and the situation I was looking at. I try to look at the structure of things and not at the visual impression.”
