Soundscape

Box for Crying Place

1989

The artwork is a genuine "portable sculpture," consisting of a mahogany box containing a stone and various accessories designed for a specific crying ritual: headphones, a cassette player with melancholic music, and a brush for polishing the Stone. The Stone, aptly named the Crying Stone, was conceptually intended to capture tears through its perforations. Irony played a role, as the artwork was meant to be worn around the neck while listening to the music, creating a form of self-infliction influenced both by the bearer's mood and the weight of the structure.
In Andersen's work, a fascinating interplay emerges between the evocative power of a deliberately crafted and determined sound, such as the melancholic music from the cassette, and the unscripted, authentic expressiveness of weeping. Crying, like laughter, stands out as one of the few human expressions distinctly linked to specific moods and sonorities, even within the ambiguity of its interpretations (since one cannot know a priori whether tears are determinated by joy, anger, or frustration). The unconventional musicality of crying thus encapsulates the essence of human existence, reflecting its dual corporeal and spiritual nature, as articulated by philosopher Helmuth Plessner. Andersen's invitation, therefore, is to delve into this dimension where each person carries their own Crying Stone.

https://soundcloud.com/recitalprogram/r65-eric-andersen?utm_source=www.recitalprogram.com&utm_campaign=wtshare&utm_medium=widget&utm_content=https%253A%252F%252Fsoundcloud.com%252Frecitalprogram%252Fr65-eric-andersen

Courtesy: Giammarino Battistella

Details

TitleBox for Crying Place
Author Eric Andersen
Year 1989
Manufacturer Edizioni Francesco Conz, Verona
Classification Sculpture
Dimensions Height: 27 cm Width: 47 cm Depth: 27 cm
Edition 9/17
Medium Mahogany box, marble stone, accessories for crying

Description

Wooden box with crying plate and crying kit (two musicassettes, cleaning kit, walkman, headphones). The sound recording is a 30 minute complete recording of a professional mourner from Karelia recorded in Moscow, Russia in 1971. The sound of mourner as they cry and holler in sympathetic pain becomes songlike. As the artist said: “The first Crying Spaces were made in Holland, England and Scandinavia in 1959/60. They were made quite simple by drawing a circle on the ground and to step inside to Cry. Crying is the only means of human communication that cannot be decoded and interpreted with certainty. You can observe a person Crying but can never determine why without additional information. It could be sadness, joy, pain, exhaustion, pleasure, relief or a particle of dust in the eye. However, if you analyze the hormones and crystals in each tear, you can with scientific certainty declare the specific reason for that particular Crying session. After innumerable Crying Spaces all over the world I had an offer to work with the famous marble from the notorious town of Guilietta and Romeo, Verona, Italy. The Verona Rosso. The editor Francesco Conz from Verona offered to publish an edition in Verona Rosso. Here I found the opportunity to materialize the old Greek saying that the most fragile and ephemeral part of the human body, The Tears, eventually will change and shape the most solid parts of the world. The Crying Stone saw the light of the Day. Unfortunately not in an edition of 7 billions (one for each inhabitant of Earth) but in a number of 19. For each stone a most elegant wooden box in mahogany was made. In this way you could travel with your Crying Stone and have it handy for all occasions.” - Sean McCann "Eric Andersen – “The Crying Space” Sound extract available at soundcloud.com/recitalprogram/r65-eric-andersen?utm_source=www.recitalprogram.com&utm_campaign=wtshare&utm_medium=widget&utm_content=https%253A%252F%252Fsoundcloud.com%252Frecitalprogram%252Fr65-eric-andersen

Bibliography

MARTIN, Henry, "Fluxers", Museion Bolzano, Bolzano, 1992.

Sitography: KAKINUMA, Toshie, "Oral History Interview with Eric Andersen", www.kcua.ac.jp, 21/04/2014.
www.kcua.ac.jp/arc/ar/ericandersen_en/

McCANN, Sean, "R65 – Eric Andersen – The Crying Space”, www.recitalprogram.bandcamp.com, January, 2020.
www.recitalprogram.com/the-crying-space/

RECITAL PROGRAM, R65 - Eric Andersen - "Le Chemin Des Larmes. Excerpt from The Crying Space 2xCD", soundcloud.com, 14/02/20.
soundcloud.com/recitalprogram/r65-eric-andersen?utm_source=www.recitalprogram.com&utm_campaign=wtshare&utm_medium=widget&utm_content=https%253A%252F%252Fsoundcloud.com%252Frecitalprogram%252Fr65-eric-andersen

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