Dave Ritter and Kathleen Ritter
Photo: Musée d’art contemporain de Montréal, avec la permission de/ courtesy of Guy L’Heureux
Reprise, 2017
Sound installation, turntable, vinyl record, wall mural, cushions
The massive social and political upheavals of the late 1960s were mirrored in the divergent forms of music that emerged at the time, from experimental electronic music to reggae to lounge. All of these came together at Expo, along with more traditional pop and classical music.
Citing 1967 as the year in which electronic music as we know it took shape, David Ritter and Kathleen Ritter have produced an audio collage of the sounds of 1967. They sample significant moments such as Marshall McLuhan’s The Medium is the Message; Gilles Tremblay’s electroacoustic composition Centre-élan; the sculptural sound composition of the artist collective Fusion des arts, entitled Les Mécaniques, as well as such diverse sources as the Beatles’ song Strawberry Fields Forever; Steve Reich’s conceptual Piano Phase; Glenn Gould’s radio documentary The Idea of North; the writings of Guy Debord and selected pieces by Delia Derbyshire and Daphne Oram. In this sound installation, the artists examine the acoustic spaces of Expo 67, especially instances where music sampling and repetition were introduced to popular audiences, viewing these as foundational moments that presaged the rise of DJ culture, hip hop and the remix.
Research assistance: Leticia Trandafir
Audio mixing and mastering: Josh Bowman
About the Artists
Kathleen Ritter is an artist and a writer. Working with sound, photography, video, and text, often in collaboration, her practice explores alternative histories, especially in relation to systems of power, language and technology. Her recent solo exhibitions took place at G Gallery, Toronto, and Battat Contemporary, Montréal (2014). In addition, Ritter has organized exhibitions in Canada and abroad, and published writing on the work of contemporary art and artists, including Mark Manders, Pierre Huyghe, Althea Thauberger, Colette Urban, Rachel Harrison, Derek Sullivan, and Ai Weiwei, to name a few, and on subjects as diverse as hip hop, precarious labour, public art, revolution and visual perception.
David Ritter is a musician and an artist, born in 1979 in Oshawa, Ontario. He is a founding member of the alternative country band The Strumbellas, whose song “Spirits” went #1 in several countries, including number one for three weeks on the Alternative charts in the United States. It was certified Double Platinum in Canada and Italy, and Gold in the USA, France, and Germany, while gaining over one-hundred million streams and over fourty million views on YouTube. Their album Hope debuted at #3 on Billboard’s Folk Albums Chart, #9 on the Alternative Chart, and #12 on the Rock Albums Chart. The band made their U.S. network television debuts on Jimmy Kimmel Live, The Late Show With Stephen Colbert, and Conan with Conan O’Brien. They won a Juno for Single of the Year in 2016 and Roots and Traditional Album of the Year in 2014. This year they played festivals across North America and Europe including Bonnaroo, Governor’s Ball, Firefly, Lollapalooza, Osheaga, the Newport Folk Festival, British Summer Time, Pilgrimage, Life Is Beautiful, and Austin City Limits. Before the breakout success of The Strumbellas, David was pursuing his PhD in English at the University of Toronto and was a recipient of a Canada Graduate Scholarship. His dissertation was on character in 18th century history writing. His research interests include British and Canadian literature, historiography, the novel, and the intersection between sound and narrative.
Events
EXHIBITION VISITS AND ARTIST TALKS
Visit with Kathleen Ritter, Wednesday, June 21, 2017 at 6pm at the Musée d’art contemporain de Montréal