PRESS

Dateline Brooklyn

Artnet

May 2005

Tom Kotik OUT (maximum volume) Black + White

Dont read the next two paragraphs if you intend to see the show at Black & White. In the gallery's outdoor space, Tom Kotik shows an "interactive sculpture" that appears at first to be nothing more than an aggressively boring brown box made of high-density fiberboard, looking quite at home in the bland, bricked-in yard. At close range, a gentle, rhythmic murmur is perceptible. The persistent viewer discovers that the monolith houses a small, soundproof box, which houses a smaller soundproof box, which houses a pair of speakers pumping high-energy rock & roll at blaring, call-the-cops volume.

The music is by the artist's own band. The sculpture is called OUT (maximum volume) and it's very funny, a little shocking, and holds up surprisingly well to repeated viewings (or listenings). It reminded us of those expressionless iPod wearers, on the subway or in line at the bodega, who suffer unwittingly from sonic leakage.

Read more about the artist

Tom Kotik