One of the most established women in sound art, American artist Camille Norment utilises “the notion of cultural psychoacoustics as both an aesthetic and conceptual framework” in her practice.

In her works, the social and the aural intertwine into soundscapes that are as soothing as they are dynamic.

To Norment, “cultural psychoacoustics” is an investigation of socio-cultural phenomena through both sound and music.

Although often considered to be a Norwegian artist, Camille Norment was born in the US. She received a Bachelor of Arts in comparative literature and art history from the University of Michigan, and both a Master of Fine Arts and Master of Arts in Interactive Telecommunications from New York University.

She spent 12 years in New York before moving to Oslo, Norway in 2005, where she continues to be based today.

In her performances, Norment frequently employs the glass armonica, an instrument that is typically made out of pure crystal, invented by Benjamin Franklin in 1761.

The armonica is activated with fingers that have been moistened with water to produce pitches similar to “wine glass music”. This extremely rare instrument was used by the likes of Mozart and Marie Antoinette, as well as Franz Mesmer – the German physician known for popularising hypnotism.

Along with Vegar Vårdal and Håvard Skaset, Norment acts as part of an ensemble: the Camille Norment trio.

In addition to the glass armonica, the trio use instruments such as the Norwegian Hardanger fiddle, tools which according to the artist – were “simultaneously revered and feared or even outlawed at various points in their histories”.

The trio performed during the Venice Biennale in 2015 and have made memorable appearances at performance spaces like the Kitchen in New York.

In 2015, Norment took over the Nordic Pavilion at the 56th Venice Art Biennale, representing Norway in a monumental sound and sculptural installation accompanied by a series of publications and sonic performances along with her ensemble.

Her show, titled “Rapture”, was one of the most well-received presentations in Venice that year, and helped her rise to artistic success, as it has for many artists such as Samson Young, Janet Cardiff and George Bures Miller.

Norment often inserts specific cultural symbols in her works.

In the 2008 piece Triplight, she modified a 1955 microphone, replacing the amplifier with a strong light bowl, with the microphone nodding at the everlasting spirits of all the singers, artists, and politicians that had used it over the decades – particularly during the golden years.

Her solo exhibitions include the two-part “Plexus” at Dia Art Foundation in New York, Drawing And Sculpture at the Oslo Kunstforening, Untitled (Red Flame) at the Logan Center Gallery in Chicago, and more. 

Norment is the Bergen Kunsthall's Festival Exhibition artist for 2023. Each year, the Norwegian museum presents the work of a Norway-based artist in a Turner Prize-style programme that has been ongoing since 1953.

Norment will be taking over the museum’s four galleries in a single installation that relies on sound, exploring the potential of the architecture of the allocated spaces.

“Sound in her work becomes sensible in its complex relationship to social processes, as a means of communication and a physical factor of our environment,” said the director of Bergen Kunsthall, Axel Wieder. 

Continue reading to discover some of Norment’s famous works.

FAMOUS WORKS AND SHOWS BY CAMILLE NORMENT

What, exactly, does Norment’s notion of “cultural psychoacoustics” signify? Some of her most well-known works might provide the best insight.

‘PLEXUS’ (2022)

In 2022, the Dia Art Foundation’s two spaces in New York presented Norment’s Plexus.

This comprise various installations that were primarily inspired by the architectural qualities and resonant frequencies of the two gallery locations in which they were set up, with particular attention placed on subject-object relations, vibration, the bell, feedback and the sine wave.

In one of the two locations, the wooden ceiling helped Norment set a starting point for her installation, which dialogued with the Chelsea neighbourhood’s maritime industrial history, touching upon “the role of society as a human construct in relation to the migration of bodies across the globe”.

Visitors were welcomed to sit across the many wood sculptures scattered throughout the space, which act as a sort of extension of the roof. 

In the second of the two spaces, a brass sculpture was suspended at the centre of the room above a large brass vessel. Microphones were pointed towards the room, creating feedback loops generated by visitors’ movement.

“As the visitor moves through the spaces, they encounter various moments of sonic interaction that elevate their sense of being, both as a singular body and in relation to others,” said the show’s curator Kelly Kivland.

‘RAPTURE’ (2015)

Norment’s solo presentation Rapture was presented at Norway's first-ever Nordic Pavilion during the Venice Art Biennale in 2015.

Commissioned by the Office for Contemporary Art Norway, “Rapture” reflected upon the history of sound.

Panes with shards of broken glass were scattered throughout the space, and the Camille Norment Trio activated the installation with the electric guitar, the violin, and most notably – the glass armonica.

A chorus of 12 voices was emitted through microphones strategically placed on the ceiling. The pavilion became, according to the artist, a “place torn between poetry and catastrophe”.

“​​Throughout history, fear has been associated with the paradoxical effects music has on the body and mind, and its power as a reward-giving de-centraliser of control,” said Norment.

‘RHYTHM WARS’ – INTERVAL SERIES (2016)

In 2014, the City of Oslo commissioned Norment for a permanent work of public art to be installed at the new Løren rapid train station, as part of the municipality’s art scheme.

Rhythm Wars is a large drum that references the fragments of history associated with the city. It overlooks Løren – a neighbourhood with a strong military history – like a landmark clock, while the drum’s playfulness references the rhythm of movement generated by passengers inside the station.

At night, an internal light reinforces the drum’s amusing placement. 

Continue exploring:

• 25 Global Sound Art Exhibitions to See in 2022
• Iterations and Improvisation: An Interview with MSHR
• Muting Expectations: Samson Young’s Love of Classical Music and Sound Effects
• In Conversation with Installation Artist Yuko Mohri
• Ryoji Ikeda's Data-Centric Pursuits
• Christine Sun Kim's Ownership of Sound
• Sonic Art: An Overview

Cover Credit: Marta Buso

Writer | Bana Bissat

Bana Bissat is a Milan-based writer who reports on sound art for Sound of Life. She has written for Flash Art, Lampoon, and Cultured. @banabissat

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