Stephan von Huene

Stephan von Huene (1932-2000) emerged as a pioneer in sound art in the 1960s alongside John Cage, Ed Kienholz and Allan Kaprow. His mechanical sound sculptures drew on the work of all these artists, combining chance sound with assemblage art and performative happening. Making his mark with visually seductive furniture-like acoustic objects such as the "Kaleidophonic Dog," that recall the assemblages of Ed Kienholz, von Heune eventually turned his mechanical marvels towards their performative possibilities, involving his listener-viewers in the production of sound. The Song of the Line examines the artist's works on paper--prints, collages, "mind maps" and sketches--and explicates their relation to his sculptures.