Listening to Aspen
Saturday 01 September 3pm
Presented by Eamonn Maxwell and Mary-Ruth Walsh as part of Dan Graham: beyond walls, curated by Eamonn Maxwell.

In 1967 Brian O’Doherty was asked to guest edit a combined edition of the highly influential Aspen publication. O’Doherty decided that Aspen 5+6 should function as the first ever portable conceptual art exhibition, thus dispensing with the need for a physical gallery space. He invited contemporary artists, authors, musicians and theorists to contribute works to the project. Amongst the many and varied contributions contained within Aspen 5+6 are 5 flexi discs with recordings compiled in London, New York and Paris in the Autumn of 1967.  

Listening to Aspen is a unique event that will see these flexi discs played in front of an audience, possibly for the first time ever. Over the space of an hour the audience will hear recordings from Samuel Beckett, William Burroughs, John Cage, Merce Cunningham, Marcel Duchamp and Morton Feldman.

Eamonn Maxwell is an independent curator, and works with The Arts Council of Ireland as a Collection Adviser.  Since graduating from Camberwell College of Arts, Maxwell has been involved in over 60 exhibitions in UK, Ireland and Europe, including curating the Irish Pavilion at 2011 Venice Biennale.  He has advised some of the leading contemporary art collectors and has served as a board member for many not-for-profit organisations. From 2009 – 2016 he was Director of Lismore Castle Arts, where he programmed significant exhibitions by leading international and Irish artists. He has lectured at Crawford College of Art and Design, Ulster University and University College Dublin.

Mary-Ruth Walsh has a visual art practice that encompasses painting, drawing, filmmaking and installation. She also wrote A Labyrinth in a Box: Aspen 5+6 (2001) published in NCAD’s Thoughtlines. She says this research ‘radically changed the way I looked at art and art history. Aspen 5+6 was theoretical alchemy creating a shifting matrix in an 8 inch box.’ Walsh graduated from Goldsmiths University of London and from the National College of Art and Design. She has exhibited in many major institutions, in Ireland and abroad and recently was the recipient of the Arts Council of Ireland’s Visual Arts Bursary 2017.

We would like to acknowledge the support of Lisson Gallery, Electronic Arts Intermix, Mary-Ruth Walsh, Aideen Barry and especially Dan Graham for their role in making this event possible.