The double LP Voices Fill My Head, released from INFO, features the second collection of Oppenheim’s early sound works from 1993 to 1999
Kristin Oppenheim
Born in Honolulu, Hawaii, but raised in Brooklyn, New York City, Kristin Oppenheim is an artist best known for her immersive installations based in sound, film and performance. Over the last three decades, she has composed vocal works not as a musician, but as a conceptual artist working with galleries and museums around the world. Today she still lives and works in New York, represented in the art field by greengrassi in London, and 303 Gallery in New York.
In June 2022, she released a double LP called Voices Fill My Head, that features the second collection of her early sound works from 1993 to 1999. Her previous double LP Night Run, out in spring 2021, features the first collection of her early sound works, recorded in her studio between 1992 and 1995. It was the inaugural release of the Berlin-based record label INFO, founded by interdisciplinary artist Reece Cox.
Conceptual but also performative: defining Oppenheim’s art
Conceptual art; when the idea or concept behind the work is more relevant than the finished art object.
People, especially art critics and curators, refer to Kristin Oppenheim as a conceptual artist, but what does it mean for her? «Conceptual art is generally based on the making of ideas, so in that way my research could be considered conceptual, but I prefer to consider my work as a performance».
Oppenheim’s installations saturate space touching on fragmented memories that blur the lines between reality and abstraction, but sometimes it could be limiting to define her art and her approach to the artistic research. Oppenheim states that she has never asked herself what the problem of defining her own method of work is, but she can identify some sort of recurring structure: «I start off with the idea of wanting to write some sort of story. At the beginning I had fragments of stories, then I chose a story. I cut it up and I make it shorter, then I repeat some parts of the story and I work with them».
Oppenheim’s work originates from a story
The repetition and recombination of the elements is a crucial step, because it affects the audience at different levels. «I work with the emotions, the emotions of the voice that pull on the audience, but my starting point is a story of some sort, coming from somewhere».
Each of Oppenheim’s work originates from a story, then comes the choice of the medium of expression, but her favorite, or the most suitable for her message, is the recorded voice and its manipulation. «In terms of what I need to carry forward in my own projects, the practice of voice recording has often been the most satisfying for what I have intended to express and communicate. Since I was a college student I have used my recorded voice, so that is the most consistent practice I’ve had».
Repeating for remembering: the role of memory
Memory seems to be a basic concept in Oppenheim’s art. The mechanism of remembrance is stimulated by the repetition of verbal cells, words or sentences which become pure sound beyond meaning. «In my work I use the idea of memory with the practice of repeating the lyrics pronounced by my voice. Through this kind of repetition, when people listen to one of my pieces in a museum or in an art gallery, they become immersed in this language or this narrative. Every person from the audience reflects on his or her memory. Then, the memory can go from one person to the next».
It also has to do with the stories that I’m speaking of, the voices that the people have in their own heads, in their own mind. It has to do with consciousness and subconsciousness and it is a reflection of language or emotion that is occurring. Psychologically speaking, it is inside one’s own consciousness. Memory plays a fundamental role and most of my own stories are based on memories that I’ve had in the past».
The art of Kristin Oppenheim is a balance of elements: a story to tell, a voice used as an instrument, lyrics to be repeated and memory to be enabled.
Wild landscapes from Honolulu
«It has more to do with the idea of an interior voice and an interior dialogue of voices you had, speaking to you. All of my stories are based on psychological narratives, but each project is more than a psychological narrative. It is all about a voice, about certain things speaking to yourself. It doesn’t have the same effect on everyone: sometimes memory comes into it and sometimes, not. It is like listening to a popular song, not everyone has the same value and the memory of that song is always different. In each project there is a choice that I made in terms of creation and effects that I would like to evoke. I work on my story and lyrics, then I go with the cut up in a non-linear fashion to create a rhythmic flow and it gives musicality to the work. I’m trying to create a psychological story-based experience with a musicality for the audience».
Even though Oppenheim has mostly lived in New York City, she was born in Honolulu, Hawaii, where nature is powerful and the view of wild landscapes are impactful. The urban setting however, has a greater significance for her: «I was just a baby when I was in Honolulu and I did not grow up there. I appreciate nature but I am more of a city girl, I feel that I am from New York City. Surely, I appreciate both urban landscape and natural landscape. I love both of them, but the city is more inspiring for me».
Voices Fill My Head: selected sound works from 1993 to 1999
The project of releasing two collections of Oppenheim’s sound works came from Reece Cox, interdisciplinary artist and founder of INFO, a record label based in Berlin. «I was introduced to this young artist, who was a fan of mine and he wanted to start a record label. He invited me to work with him, so he and I chose these pieces, making a fruitful cooperation. We picked the sixteen tracks together, but he compiled the ultimate list of pieces and put them in a certain order. He asked for my input, but I mostly let him curate it. He created his own record label, INFO, and the first release was my vinyl record Night Run».
Those compositions represent an early stage of Oppenheim’s research in the field of sound and recording. «I was inventing a lot. There was a lot of possibility to create brand new art, to give birth to unfounded projects, there was the power of discovery. These two albums are all about my first ten years of discovery and experimenting».
Some of my early works show a vulnerability
Sometimes looking at the past is a sort of self-celebration, a way to retrace a long-closed chapter of a successful career, but Kristin Oppenheim is more the kind of artist who prefers to look to the future and to new creative horizons, experimenting and feeling the joy of discovery again and again. «I like to create new things, new projects. I went through it when I started this collaboration with INFO. I haven’t listened to those records for a long time. But Reece Cox and I needed to listen to them because we had to select the songs, so I was reintroduced to all these old works again and I could appreciate them with a different eye. I wasn’t sure whether I would appreciate the work I did as a young artist».
An artist can be lenient or critical of herself as a young person, but Oppenheim is objective: «I think some of my early works show a vulnerability. Some of them are sad, even if not in a bad way. Some of them are strong. They represent my willingness to discover and experiment. A lot of them turned out good. And that is the best way for young artists to build their careers: to try new things and to discover their own speciality, something that makes them unique. I think that is what this body of work represents».
At the same time as the second album release, Kristin Oppenheim inaugurated her solo exhibition She Had A Heavy Day at greengrassi in London, featuring a rotating playlist of eight A Cappella sound works that she recorded in the 1990s, coming from both the records. Each day of the exhibition, a different work from the playlist was presented to the audience.
Past and present for women in art
For a female artist it has always been more difficult to emerge on the art circuit. Luckily, some female artists have crossed borders and broken through barriers, just like Kristin Oppenheim or Laurie Anderson, who has always been a reference for Oppenheim herself.
«I would say that I have faced more difficulties than a man. All female artists, we all have to deal with more obstacles than men. That’s just a given, but I don’t know specifically how it happens. I don’t have a specific answer for that. My generation was quite active with these issues in the art world, but at the same time my generation was quite idealistic and we didn’t have to worry as much about things such as the young generations need to face right now. I didn’t feel like I had any kind of major conflict, but I just think it was crucial to try to find my own voice for my own vulnerability and to share that as a conceptual artist working through it.
The social-political dimension
On a social and political dimension there are many pressing issues that can affect and influence work and research of artists all around the world. For example, while this conversation is taking place, from one continent to another, the United States are taking steps backwards on abortion.
«Everything is pressing, the whole situation in this country is embarrassing and pressing. It is hard to tell but I am hoping that my daughter is going to move to Europe as soon as possible and I’m trying to get a residency in Berlin as soon as possible. I don’t like it here anymore. I love New York City but this country now is embarrassing and I want to get out of here. It’s a tough time for the youngest generation, for my daughter’s generation. It’s going to be challenging».
Kristin Oppenheim
Born in Honolulu, Hawaii, Kristin Oppenheim grew up in Brooklyn, New York City. She is a conceptual artist known for her immersive installations based in sound, film and performance. Recently the Berlin-based label INFO released two records with her selected sound works from the 90s: Night Run and Voices Fill My Head.
