In this ongoing series, the artist literally poses spoken questions to selected objects as if they were sentient beings able to respond. The installation takes the form of the display of the particular object, and an audio speaker installed above where the audience would ideally be situated in relation to the object on exhibition. Each set of questions is written specifically for that chosen object. No answers are written, given, or suggested, and a pause of approximately 10-seconds is taken between each question.

Started in 2016, this artwork proposes that each object is more than the sum of its parts, and the questions serve to reconsider and complicate the object, transforming the standard conditions of display, and opening up new interpretations and parallel histories and possibilities.

A Series Of Personal Questions

Lili Boniche - Marché Noir [Sides 1-2] (Pacific, 1947)

Example of “A series of personal questions addressed to the River Rhine,” 2023. Please note that these are selected, highlighted excerpts of the audio, and the pauses between each question in the installations are longer.

A voice poses questions to the River Rhine.

For the Monheim Triennale, audio speakers have been placed along the riverbanks to broadcast questions addressed directly to the river. Each question lingers in the air with a pause of 12 seconds before the next question is asked.

The Rhine is the second longest river in Central Europe; a source of life in and on the water, and a natural border in the landscape. Affected by trade and settlement over centuries, the river has experienced countless histories, life cycles, and transformations. The Rhine was used as a pathway for Viking exploration, Roman expansion, the propagation of Lutheranism, and the terror of the Malleus Maleficarum. Today, the Rhine is a symbol; a troubled, romantic image; a political player; and a wounded entity that suffers from neglect as much as from human poisoning and industrial waste.

Themes connecting to, amongst others, the river’s timescale, vast ecosystems, memories, and the many myths created around it are explored in the questions. The artwork is ongoing and unfolding with the possibility of further questions being added later.

The Triennale runs in Monheim am Rhein from 3 June to 2 July. For more information, follow @monheimtriennale

The series began in 2016 and this particular version has its conceptual roots in 2017 while on a residency at @ateliermondialart in Basel.
Research was augmented in a writing workshop in March 2023 conducted with members of the Ulla Hahn Haus close to the river.

Curated by Frank Schulte & Kathrin Jentjens
Produced by Lukas Becker. Technical installation by Niklas Werani

English - German translations: Barbara Hess
Proofreader: Bettina Schultz
German voice: Yasmin Hankel
English voice: Victoria Davies
Studio engineer: Dave Langemann

153 questions
Bilingual duration: 01:27:03

Photograph by Niclas Weber

A series of personal questions addressed to the River Rhine_German language examples

A series of personal questions addressed to a Viking-age sword

A voice poses questions to a Viking-age sword.

In this ongoing series the artist poses spoken questions to selected objects; in this instance a Viking-age sword unearthed from a cairn in Barkarby in 1931, and now part of the collection of Historiska Museet.

The installation takes the form of the presentation of the sword and an audio speaker installed above where the audience are situated in relation to the object on display.

Swords carried great personal meaning for their owners and, understandably, have become the inspiration for folklore and legend. What might the sword have done, or failed to do in its lifetime? What are its feelings about violence and the use of Viking culture in contemporary images? What might it think its purpose is today? Through a series of 150 questions that stir memories and probe details, the artist’s intervention addresses the sword, opening up themes of power, narrative, and history.

Swedish voice: Ann Petrén
Recorded at EMS, Stockholm

Date of series: 2016 | Date of this edition: 2024
Materials: Viking-age sword (iron, copper, silver), speaker, audio
Dimensions: 70 x 10.3cm (Sword)
Format: Monophonic audio
Duration: 01:21:04
Language: Swedish, English
Sword loaned from Historiska Museet.

Translations: Isabel Sunnerö, Lovisa Tunedal, Anna Palmqvist, Lina Kinning
Proofreading: Bettina Schultz, Lina Kinning, Anna Palmqvist

Research assistance: Dr. Sven Kalmring, Professor Neil Price, Professor Sandra Klopper, Anthea Buys, Linda Qviström, Hannah Lewis, Thobile Ndenze, and Jonathan Olsson.

QR code video designed by Hoick, Cape Town.All rights reserved. 

The copyright for this audio piece is reserved.
Any replication or use of content such as images, audio and texts is not permitted without James Webb and the recorded participant’s written consent.

Gallery representation:
blank projects, Cape Town www.blankprojects.com
Galerie Imane Farès, Paris www.imanefares.com

A Series Of Personal Questions Addressed To A Viking - Age Sword Swedish Excerpt

20 James Webb DE

20 James Webb EN

The Bronze Age Qijia peoples (2200 - 1700 BCE), named by the Swedish archeologist, Johan Gunnar Anderson, after the burial sites in Qijiaping, settled along the Upper Yellow River region and produced, amongst many other goods, handmade ceramics marked with crisscross patterning. This vessel, formerly in the private collection of a “West country gentleman” in Bath, UK,  is presented and staged with an audio speaker in relation to it. 

Questions probing deep time, regional geography, the multiple lives of objects, Qijia burial customs, and the antiques trade of the 20th century are explored in the questions.

The artwork was commissioned by Astrup Fearnley Museet for the exhibition, Between Rivers, curated by Owen Martin in 2024.

In this ongoing series, the artist literally poses spoken questions to selected objects as if they were sentient beings able to respond. The installation takes the form of the display of the particular object, and an audio speaker installed above where the audience would ideally be situated in relation to the object on exhibition. Each set of questions is written specifically for that chosen object. No answers are written, given, or suggested, and a pause of approximately 10-seconds is taken between each question.

Started in 2016, this artwork proposes that each object is more than the sum of its parts, and the questions serve to reconsider and complicate the object, transforming the standard conditions of display, and opening up new interpretations and parallel histories and possibilities.

Voice: Lesoko Seabe

All rights reserved. The copyright for this audio piece is reserved.
Any replication or use of content such as images, audio and texts is not permitted without James Webb’s written consent.

Gallery representation:
Galerie Imane Farès, Paris www.imanefares.com
blank projects, Cape Town www.blankprojects.com

A series of personal questions addressed to a Neolithic clay vessel

This talk is part of The Ethics of Dust by Jorge Otero-Pailos, which was installed in the oldest existing building in the Houses of Parliament. Over 50 metres long, this cast of Westminster Hall's east wall contained hundreds of years of surface pollution and dust held captive in translucent latex.

Jorge Otero-Pailos in conversation with psychoanalyst and writer Adam Phillips on the interconnections between Ruskin and Freud, conservation and identity, ethics and aesthetics, the art of preservation and need for self-preservation. 

Jorge Otero-Pailos works at the intersection of art, architecture and preservation. He is Associate Professor and Director of Historic Preservation at Columbia University. His work has been exhibited at major museums, festivals, galleries, and foundations, notably, the 53rd Venice Biennale, Italy, the V&A, London and the Louis Vuitton Galerie Museum. 

Adam Phillips is a practising psychoanalyst and a visiting professor in the English department at the University of York. He writes regularly for the London Review of Books, the Observer and the New York Times, and he is General Editor of the Penguin Modern Classics Freud translations. His most recent book is Unforbidden Pleasures.

To find out more about The Ethics of Dust, visit: www.artangel.org.uk/project/the-ethics-of-dust

Recorded at Westminster School, London on Thursday, 7 July 2016

Image: People in front of  The Ethics of Dust (2016) at the opening event in Westminster Hall, London. Photograph: William Eckersley

Talk: The Ethics of Dust – Jorge Otero-Pailos in conversation with Adam Phillips

A recorded voice addresses questions to a silver Denarius minted in Rome in 70AD. In this ongoing series, the artist literally poses a series of questions to select objects/spaces as if they were able to respond. The installation takes the form of the display of the particular object, e.g. an antique Roman coin, and an audio speaker installed above where the audience would ideally be situated in relation to the object on exhibition. The audio speaker broadcasts the series of questions addressed to the object. Time is given between each question for the object to reply, and for the audience to consider their own responses to the questions and the situation. 

The artwork proposes that each object is more than the sum of its parts and what it represents, and that each object would have had its own, unique set of experiences. The form of address seeks to honour the object and create a space for it to speak in its own way. The questions - and the audience’s projected answers - furthermore serve to reconsider and complicate the object, transforming the standard conditions of display, and opening up new interpretations and parallel histories and possibilities.

The artwork began in 2016 and has been realised in various locations with various objects. For this edition, the artist used PayPal to purchase a two millennia old silver Denarius coin from eBay. It is plausible to think that this coin, minted in the year 70AD, would have been used for all manner of transactions; from buying bread to being used as a bribe, and being part of the empire’s taxation and usury systems. 

The questions were written specifically for this coin, translated into French by Julie Azémar, Bénédicte Delay, Boris Atrux-Tallau, and Line Ajan, and recorded bilingually by Sylvaine Strike. Recording was done by Kyle Leith and Dave Langemann. Thanks to Mia Thom for studio and production assistance; thanks to Samah Slim for installation assistance. Thanks to Lina Kinning. 

Note: The audio in this clip is an edited extract of a longer piece. The durations of "silence" between each question are longer in the installation.

Exhibited as part of “Choose The Universe,” James Webb’s second solo show at Galerie Imane Farès, 5 September - 26 October 2019.

Voice: Sylvaine Strike
Photo by Tadzio

All rights reserved. The copyright for this audio piece is reserved.
Any replication or use of content such as images, audio and texts is not permitted without James Webb’s written consent.

Gallery representation: 
Galerie Imane Farès, Paris www.imanefares.com 
blank projects, Cape Town www.blankprojects.com

A series of personal questions addressed to a Roman coin (2019_French language version

A series of personal questions addressed to a Roman coin (2019)_English version

Today is a troubling day for many in the UK. After the results of an election that was plagued and stained with lies and deception, we are now left in a very precarious position. Many friends are feeling very dispirited and lost today, as am I. So, I sat in the studio this morning and improvised live to the celebratory speech of the winning party. In response to the situation I then reversed parts of it, as well as using a recording of this very speech and buried it deep within the music, again playing backwards. It's clear to many that this political situation is not taking us forwards, but rather back to a nostalgic and challenging past. So, for this moment, use this music to relax and switch off the news.

Backwards to go Forwards

A recorded voice addresses questions to 5 litres of Nigerian crude oil. In this ongoing series, the artist literally poses a series of questions to select objects as if they were able to respond. The installation takes the form of the display of the particular object, e.g. a glass cube containing Nigerian crude oil, and an audio speaker installed above where the audience would ideally be situated in relation to the object on exhibition. The audio speaker broadcasts the series of questions addressed to the object. Time is given between each question for the object to reply, and for the audience to consider their own responses to the questions and the situation.

The artwork proposes that each object is more than the sum of its parts and what it represents, and that each object would have had its own, unique set of experiences. The form of address seeks to honour the object and create a space for it to speak in its own way. The questions - and the audience’s projected answers - furthermore serve to reconsider and complicate the object, transforming the standard conditions of display, and opening up new interpretations and parallel histories and possibilities.

The artwork began in 2016 and has been realised in various locations with various objects. For this edition, the artist sourced Nigerian crude oil as the object of investigation. At some stage of the earth’s history this oil had many another forms and various other lives. Oil is, in many ways, the psyche of the planet. It has recently been brought to the earth’s surface for use in the world’s economy. The questions seek to expand on all these thoughts and ask the oil what it knows, how it has lived, and what it thinks of the world we are in today.

The questions were recorded by Brendon Daniels. Recording was done by Dave Langemann. Thanks to Hanien Conradie for sourcing the oil. Thanks to Aqua Concepts for the creation of the cube.

Note: The audio in this clip is an edited extract of a longer piece. The durations of "silence" between each question are longer in the installation.

Exhibited as part of “What fresh hell is this,” James Webb’s fifth solo show at blank projects, 19 March - 2 May 2020.

Voice: Brendon Daniels
Photo by Kyle Morland

All rights reserved. The copyright for this audio piece is reserved.
Any replication or use of content such as images, audio and texts is not permitted without James Webb’s written consent.

Gallery representation:
blank projects, Cape Town www.blankprojects.com 
Galerie Imane Farès, Paris www.imanefares.com

A Series Of Personal Questions Addressed To 5 Litres Of Nigerian Crude Oil

This is the second time I have used this microphone, the Rode NTG-8 long gun mic.  For a few years now I have been using the short gun mic the Rode NTG-3 an amazing mic.   Interesting to see how more directional it would be.  I went out to an area in the foothills of the south Wicklow mountains (Ireland)down a quiet road to visit a stubble field as it is surrounded by good hedge rows.  I was soon recording.  In one place I could hear three Yellowhammers in song, usually two.  In the last recording (The Robin - song) I was not very close to the bird, however I was very surprised how close up it sounds, even though it was about 4 to 5 meters away.  
It was a nice clear mild morning and very noisy as the north drift of air brought in traffic and tractor noise from the Woodenbridge area.  
I have to try out this mic more, however it is odd in that it seems to be not really directional, yet later when processing the recordings I am blown away at just how close up the birds sound. I still need the recording area to be quiet, however it gives a very helpful amount of rejection to sounds that are off axis. 
I put the recordings into one file, and are in the following order.  All tracks are mono.  The recorder used was the Sound Devices MixPre3.

Yellowhammer - song.
Robin - ticking calls.
Wren - ticking calls.
Wren - one song.
Robin - song.

My thanks to pixabay.com/users/TheOtherKev-9436196/  for the image of the Yellowhammer.

Rode NTG8- Experiment. 8 Aug 2020 Rostagah Wicklow Ireland

Writing Aloud is an anthology focusing on the relationship of language to sound, writing to music, and brings together a highly diverse collection of essays, interviews, meditations, visual projects, text-sound scores and audio by some of the leading individuals in the field of cultural and performance studies, experimental music and contemporary art. Edited by Brandon LaBelle and Christof Migone.

Yasunao Tone, Man'yoshu#16

Marina Abramovic, Freeing The Voice

James Webb is an artist, recognised for his site-specific interventions and installations. His practice often involves sound, found objects, and text, invoking references to literature, cinema, and the conceptualist traditions. By shifting objects, techniques, and forms beyond their original contexts and introducing them to different environments, Webb creates new spaces of tension. These spaces bind Webb’s background in religion, theatre, and advertising, offering poetic inquiries into the economies of belief and dynamics of communication in our contemporary world.

As Brandon LaBelle writes, “The works of James Webb circulate around a complex mixture of emotional and affective states; of longing and despair, of the ecstatic and of hopefulness, states of bodies and minds that move throughout his practice to raise questions of individuality and community, belonging and displacement, fragmentation and recuperation.” (Xenagogue, edited by Anthea Buys, published by the Hordaland Kunstsenter, 2015.)

Webb has had solo exhibitions at, amongst others, the Art Institute of Chicago, USA (2018); SPACES, Cleveland, USA (2018); Norrtälje Konsthall, Norrtälje, Sweden (2018); Yorkshire Sculpture Park, Wakefield, United Kingdom (2016); Hordaland Kunstsenter, Bergen, Norway (2015); CentroCentro, Madrid, Spain (2013); Johannesburg Art Gallery, Johannesburg, South Africa (2012); and mac, Birmingham, United Kingdom (2010).

Major group exhibitions include the 13th Biennial of Dakar (2018), 4th Prospect Triennial of New Orleans (2017), Documenta 14 (2017), 13th Biennial of Sharjah (2017), 12th Bienal de la Habana (2015), 55th Biennale di Venezia (2013), 3rd Marrakech Biennale (2009), Melbourne International Arts Festival (2009), and the 8th Biennale d’Art Contemporain de Lyon (2007). Other notable group shows include  those at spaces such as Wanås Konst and Historiska, Sweden; MAXXI Roma, Italy; Darat al Funun, Jordan; Théâtre Graslin, France; and the Tate Modern, London. 

Webb’s projects have been the subject of the two monographs, “. . .” (blank projects, 2020), and “Xenagogue” (Hordaland Kunstsenter, 2015). 

Impressum: All rights reserved. The copyright for these audio pieces and artworks  are reserved. Any replication or use of the content such as images, audio, and texts is not permitted without James Webb’s written consent.

Gallery representation: 
Galerie Imane Farès, Paris www.imanefares.com 
blank projects, Cape Town www.blankprojects.com

A series of personal questions addressed to the River Rhine_German language examples

theotherjameswebb

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