Subirdia, 2022, 244 x 40 x 40 cm, Stainless steel,
speaker, MP3 files
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Richard Humann (b.1961), a New York based neo-conceptual artist, frequently combines text and sound with modern technology to objectify language. He treats our symbolic codes as objects to be seen, rather than conveyances to be seen through.
This is particularly evident in the installation Hard Return (video, steel, electronics), 2004, comprised of a video projector mounted to an automated device that propels itself back and forth along a metal track, mimicking the return mechanism of an old-fashioned typewriter. Letters are projected in reverse, reducing a poem of twelve words, “I am moving quickly towards the end of what is called me,” to read one word, “I.” In (Re)Create’s Sculpture Garden in Castelnuovo Calcea, an artist residency in the province of Asti, Italy, Humann’s site-specific sculpture Suburbia is a good example of his combining traditional craftsmanship and modern technology. The work is comprised of a stainless steel birdhouse fitted with a speaker that broadcasts seeming birdcalls. |
These sounds are in fact made by residents of (Re)Create, recordings of people walking down a set of stairs, the creaking of doors opening and closing, the clinking of cooking utensils in the kitchen. These recordings are edited to mimic birdcalls.
The sculpture was created with the help of a local forger and a resident assistant. An important feature of (Re)Create is to include the assistance of local inhabitants of the region. Humann’s Suburbia is a playful mix of birdcalls and human interaction, reexamining how we as a species listen and communicate.
Elga Wimmer
July 2025
The sculpture was created with the help of a local forger and a resident assistant. An important feature of (Re)Create is to include the assistance of local inhabitants of the region. Humann’s Suburbia is a playful mix of birdcalls and human interaction, reexamining how we as a species listen and communicate.
Elga Wimmer
July 2025
Selected Collections
EMMA | Espoo Museum of Modern Art
The Nokia Collection
The Buhl Collection
Kemi Art Museum
Tampere Art Museum
The Karina Jakobi Collection
Sara Hildén Art Museum
Lux Art Collection
Gyeonggi Creation Center
Ssamzie Space
Emily Harvey Foundation
Museum of Contemporary Art
The Moen Collection
Collection of David Byrne
The Sackner Collection
The Nokia Collection
The Buhl Collection
Kemi Art Museum
Tampere Art Museum
The Karina Jakobi Collection
Sara Hildén Art Museum
Lux Art Collection
Gyeonggi Creation Center
Ssamzie Space
Emily Harvey Foundation
Museum of Contemporary Art
The Moen Collection
Collection of David Byrne
The Sackner Collection
Richard Humann at (Re)Create Residency in Asti, Italy — (Re)Create Residency. (n.d.). (Re)Create Residency. https://www.recreateresidency.org/richard-humann
Humann, R. (2023, August 8). Lyricist, poet, and artist Richard Humann — RICHARD HUMANN. RICHARD HUMANN. https://www.richardhumann.com/press/blog-post-title-two-4fw82
