Past Exhibitions

Taryn Simon: Assembled Audience

A list of names on a white wall in the Wexner Center galleries
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Sep 26, 2020–Nov 20, 2020
Galleries

ADMISSION
Free for members, college students (with valid ID), patrons under 18, active military and veterans
$9 general public
$7 senior citizens (65 and older), Ohio State faculty and staff (with BuckID)

All visitors are admitted to the exhibition for free on Thursdays after 4 PM and on the first Sunday of each month. The exhibition is closed on Mondays. 

We strive to host inclusive, accessible events that enable all individuals, including individuals with disabilities, to engage fully. If you have questions about accessibility or require an accommodation such as captioning or ASL interpretation to participate in this event, please contact Accessibility Manager Helyn Marshall at accessibility@wexarts.org or via telephone at (614) 688-3890. Requests made by two weeks in advance will generally allow us to provide seamless access, but the Wexner Center for the Arts will make every effort to meet requests made after this date.

Become a Member

Taryn Simon's Assembled Audience (2018) draws on the notion of engineered applause, gathering individuals with varying political, corporate, and ideological allegiances into a single crowd.

Working with a team from Columbus—nicknamed “Test City U.S.A.”—Simon recorded the applause of a single attendee at local concerts, sporting events, and political rallies at three of the largest venues in the capital city of the bellwether state of Ohio. Simon’s experiential installation wholly immerses the visitor in a darkened space punctuated only by the sound of randomized individual applause tracks; the same crowd never gathers twice. Presented for the first time in the city of its creation, Assembled Audience proves prescient in the isolation that it forecasted as these same gathering spaces, once crowd-filled, are now quieted by COVID-19, each space since repurposed for eviction trials, police trainings, and a field hospital.

ABOVE:
Taryn Simon
Assembled Audience, 2018
Sound installation
Dimensions variable
© Taryn Simon, image courtesy of the artist

More about our fall exhibitions

Presented amid the most contested presidential election in American history and massive social upheaval surrounding the entwined public health issues of systemic racism and the COVID-19 pandemic, the Wexner Center’s fall exhibitions showcased work from a diverse group of artists examining the tenets of American democracy, representative structures, and modes of political discourse. Discover more about the other exhibitions on view and related programs below.

A list of names on a white wall in the Wexner Center galleries

Taryn Simon's Assembled Audience, installation view at Wexner Center for the Arts

Close up of a list of names on a white wall in the Wexner Center galleries

Taryn Simon's Assembled Audience, installation view at Wexner Center for the Arts

A list of names on a white wall in the Wexner Center galleries

Taryn Simon's Assembled Audience, installation view at Wexner Center for the Arts

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Organized by the Wexner Center for the Arts and curated by Curatorial Associate Kristin Helmick-Brunet, Associate Curator Daniel Marcus, and Chief Operating Officer Megan Cavanaugh. This work was produced with support from and first exhibited at MASS MoCA, North Adams, MA, where it was curated by Alexandra Foradas.

MADE POSSIBLE BY
Greater Columbus Arts Council
American Electric Power Foundation
The Columbus Foundation
Ohio Arts Council
Institute of Museum and Library Services
Huntington Bank
Nationwide Foundation

ADDITIONAL SUPPORT PROVIDED BY
Jeni’s Splendid Ice Creams
Kaufman Development
Cardinal Health Foundation
 

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A list of events with dates and venues, along with the names of individuals, all related to the recordings of applause made for the Taryn Simon installation Assembled Audience
READ, WATCH & LISTEN | READ

Behind the Scenes: Taryn Simon’s Assembled Audience, Then and Now

Tue, Oct 13, 2020
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Past Exhibitions

Taryn Simon: Assembled Audience

Sep 26, 2020–Nov 20, 2020
Saturday's Hours 10AM–8PM
Galleries

ADMISSION
Free for members, college students (with valid ID), patrons under 18, active military and veterans
$9 general public
$7 senior citizens (65 and older), Ohio State faculty and staff (with BuckID)

All visitors are admitted to the exhibition for free on Thursdays after 4 PM and on the first Sunday of each month. The exhibition is closed on Mondays. 

We strive to host inclusive, accessible events that enable all individuals, including individuals with disabilities, to engage fully. If you have questions about accessibility or require an accommodation such as captioning or ASL interpretation to participate in this event, please contact Accessibility Manager Helyn Marshall at accessibility@wexarts.org or via telephone at (614) 688-3890. Requests made by two weeks in advance will generally allow us to provide seamless access, but the Wexner Center for the Arts will make every effort to meet requests made after this date.

Become a Member