Britni Bicknaver
Personal Artwork Sample
*For Accuracy Please Use Headphones When Possible
Cinema of Memory
Cinema of Memory illuminates an archival photo album by simulating the cognitive interplay when one is confronted with familial photos of decades past—images distant through time, yet not distant through relation.
Images sourced from Bicknaver’s family photo albums are brought to life by pairing them with custom cinematic soundtracks. This creates subtle fictions that reflect ones we all unintentionally fabricate in an effort to make sense of a familial past—a past we are inherently part of, but not always present for.
Rather than choosing ubiquitous portraits, images that are saved, yet rarely unearthed, are used. They show unidentifiable figures in sometimes common experiences—high school sporting events, restaurants, etc.—invoking a relatable, nostalgic familiarity in the viewer.
Cinema Of Memory (Installation View), Audio, Custom Made Light Box, Head Phones, Found Photograph, 19"x15"x5", 2019
Cinema Of Memory: Lake, Audio, Custom Made Light Box, Head Phones, Found Photograph, 19"x15"x5", 2019
Cinema Of Memory: Volleyball, Audio, Custom Made Light Box, Head Phones, Found Photograph, 19"x15"x5", 2019
Cinema Of Memory (Installation View), Audio, Custom Made Light Box, Head Phones, Found Photograph, 19"x15"x5", 2019
Cinema Of Memory: Lake (Detail), Audio, Custom Made Light Box, Head Phones, Found Photograph, 19"x15"x5", 2019
Cinema Of Memory: Volleyball (Detail), Audio, Custom Made Light Box, Head Phones, Found Photograph, 19"x15"x5", 2019
Special Collections: Reflections on the Mercantile Library
Special Collections (2022), an unorthodox audio tour of Cincinnati’s famed Mercantile Library, takes listeners on a contemplative journey through the institution’s collection. Focused through an anthropological lens and presented in the form of a ten-chapter audiobook accessed through a QR code, this piece surveys the human epoch—from the myths of our creation to the realities of our impending demise. Couched within this investigation is an acknowledgment of the most significant mark humanity will leave behind: our collective knowledge.
Special Collections explores the notion of an ideal standard by which cultural products are measured, valued, and conserved. It examines the objects and ideas we decide to canonize, the injustices that often impact these decisions, and our inventions of preservation that will ultimately lead to our destruction. Utilizing the library as a mirror, we can see ourselves within the fruits of our labor and curiously ask in the manner of Paul Gauguin, Where Do We Come From? What Are We? Where Are We Going? (1897-98).
Special Collections (accompanying information card—front), Audio Instillation, 42 min. 11 sec., 2022
Special Collections (accompanying information card—back), Audio Instillation, 42 min. 11 sec., 2022
Special Collections, Chapter 1: In the Beginning (Video substitution for in-person experience), Audio Installation, 2 min. 39 sec., 2022
Special Collections, Interlude: Gee (Video Substitution for In-Person Experience), Audio Installation, 2 min. 39 sec., 2022
City Under Exposure
Utilizing our collective archive from the Cincinnati Public Library, City Under Exposure explores natural disasters that have affected our community. Eight photographs captured by citizens of Cincinnati represent some of the most extraordinary moments from 140 years of the city's past. From the devastating floods of 1883 and 1937 and the tornados of 1969 and 1974, these historical images capture the (un)common experiences that can sometimes evade the vernacular.
In addition, unique soundtracks (accessed through QR codes found on the cases) bring these static visual artifacts to life. By immersing the viewer into past lived experiences, these moments in time can give new generations of Cincinnatians a new perspective and connection to a place they thought they knew so well.
City Under Exposure (Installation View), Plexiglass Exhibition Cases, Vinyl, Re-Printed Found Photographs, Audio collage, Dimensions Vary, 2022
City Under Exposure (Installation View), Plexiglass Exhibition Cases, Vinyl, Re-Printed Found Photographs, Audio Collage, Dimensions Vary, 2022
City Under Exposure (Installation Detail), Plexiglass Exhibition Cases, Vinyl, Re-Printed Found Photographs, Audio Collage, Dimensions Vary, 2022
City Under Exposure: Blizzard of 1977, Plexiglass Exhibition Case, Cut Vinyl, Re-Printed Found Photograph, Audio Collage, Dimensions Vary, 1 min. 20 sec., 2022
City Under Exposure: Blizzard of 1977 (Selected Details), Plexiglass Exhibition Cases, Cut Vinyl, Re-Printed Found Photograph, Audio, Dimensions Vary, 1 min. 20 sec., 2022
City Under Exposure: Blizzard of 1977 (Selected Detail), Plexiglass Exhibition Case, Cut Vinyl, Re-Printed Found Photograph, Audio Collage, 30" x 33" x 30", 1 min. 20 sec., 2022
City Under Exposure: Tornado of 1974, Plexiglass Exhibition Case, Cut Vinyl, Re-Printed Found Photograph, Audio Collage, 30" x 33" x 30", 2 min. 42 sec., 2022
City Under Exposure: Tornado of 1974 (Selected Details), Plexiglass Exhibition Case, Cut Vinyl, Re-Printed Found Photograph, Audio Collage, 30" x 33" x 30", 2 min. 42 sec., 2022
City Under Exposure: Tornado of 1974 (Selected Details), Plexiglass Exhibition Case, Cut Vinyl, Re-Printed Found Photograph, Audio Collage, 30" x 33" x 30", 2 min. 42 sec., 2022
Soundtracks for Gaul
Soundtracks for Gaul focus on three Roman artifacts from the Musée Saint-Remi in Reims, France. A tomb of a general, a head of Mercury from the facade of a temple and an Obelisk dedicated to the god Jupiter are all brought to life through custom made soundtracks. In Soundtrack for Tombeau De Jovin we hear a narrative of the life of Flavius Jovinus, a prosperous Roman general credited with many successful military campaings. In Soundtrack for Tête De Mercure we are confronted with the Roman god Mercury who is animated with breath as we look into his 1,700 year old eyes. And lastly, Soundtrack for la colonne de Jupiter recalls its former position marking a natural spring and the changing of seasons to reference the god unto which it is dedicated. The context has changed for these objects—once revered for their sacred power now revered for surviving time. The soundtracks attempt to activate the imagination of the museum’s visitors as they look at evidence of their city's former life.
Soundtrack for Tête De Mercure, Appropriated and Native Sound, 1 min. 40 sec., 2021
Soundtrack for Tête De Mercure (Installation View), Appropriated and Native Sound, 1 min. 40 sec., 2021
Soundtrack for Tête De Mercure (Installation View), Appropriated and Native Sound, 1 min. 40 sec., 2021
Soundtrack for Tête De Mercure (Installation View), Appropriated and Native Sound, 1 min. 40 sec., 2021
Soundtrack for Tombeau De Jovin, Appropriated and Native Audio, 1 min. 31 sec., 2021
Soundtrack for Tombeau De Jovin (Detail), Appropriated and Native Audio, 1 min. 31 sec., 2021
Soundtrack for Tombeau De Jovin (Detail), Appropriated and Native Audio, 1 min. 31 sec., 2021
Soundtrack for Tombeau De Jovin (Installation View), Appropriated and Native Audio, 1 min. 31 sec., 2021
12 Phrases
12 Phrases, a musical composition comprised of twelve independent sections, combines two forms encompassed by naturally occurring patterns: the chromatic musical circle and the physical form of plants. By overlapping these visual elements, leaves, sticks, and flowers can suggest specific sonic frequencies within the Western scale, allowing each specimen to express its own musical composition. Though plants make vibrations out of range of the human ear, 12 Phrases envisions these produced sounds through meditative transitions, reflecting the slow movement of growth. Also recognizing that plants can sense vibrations, all specimens have been extracted within range of the gallery, allowing the compositions to be played back to the creatures from which they came.
12 Phrases, Audio Instillation (accompanying information card detail), 22 min. 2 sec., 2020
12 Phrases, Audio Installation (audio excerpt), 22 min. 2 sec., 2020
12 Phrases, Audio Installation (instillation view at WavePool Gallery, Cincinnati, OH), 22 min. 2 sec., 2020
Universe
Universe makes use of marginalia in the unlikely context of an audio book, The Universe in a Nutshell by Stephen Hawking (2001), by sonically recording the actions of the artist as she listens to the source text. Just as a borrowed book from the library has evidence of its previous readers, this audible example of marginalia magnifies the experience, as we hear the intimate actions of Bicknaver engaging with the text before us.
Playing upon the title and content of the source text, Universe juxtaposes the sublime universe of Stephen Hawking to the mundane everyday “universe” of the artist. Bicknaver’s coughs, quips, and sighs intermingle with the diegetic sounds of the artist’s apartment in contrast with Hawking’s explanation of our stunningly amazing universe, reinforcing the banal divergence of the human experience with the unfathomable existence of everything. A subtle play for power is evoked between “the read” and “reader” as we hear the artist engage with the universe depicted in the book, and disengage into her own mundane everyday universe, forcing the text into the margins of quotidian life.
Universe (Installation View), The Universe In A Nutshell Audio Book, Native Audio, Pedestal, Vinyl Print, Media Player, Headphones, 3 hr. 37min. 16 sec., 2019
Universe (Vinyl Print), The Universe In A Nutshell Audio Book, Native Audio, Pedestal, Vinyl Print, Media Player, Headphones, 3hr. 37min. 16 sec., 2019
Universe (Audio Excerpt), The Universe In A Nutshell Audio Book, Native Audio, Pedestal, Vinyl Print, Media Player, Headphones, 3hr. 37min. 16 sec., 2019
Corners
Corners an ambient sound piece, presents multiple aural environments that fill and fade in the openness of the gallery's atrium space. Intended to interact with the margins of consciousness, Corners strives to sonically blend into the natural environment of the gallery by producing artificial soundscapes that go unnoticed and unquestioned, before fading into soundscapes that contrast with the natural environment of the gallery, pulling the attention of the audience to the existence of the piece and its artificiality through a discord of the senses. Ultimately, Corners functions within the margins of the exhibition itself, filling the edges of space with sonic reverberations that deftly reference the works of visionary composers like Brian Eno (Ambient 1: Music for Airports, 1978) and Erik Satie (“Furniture Music,” 1917).
Corners, Appropriated Audio Samples and Speakers, Duration: 1 hr., 2019
A Raising
A Raising is an 11-channel audio installation juxtaposing the idiosyncratic lives and work of Mark DeJong and Chris Larson whose work was paired alongside one another at the Contemporary Arts Center of Cincinnati in the spring of 2018. By employing the architecture of their personal pasts, A Raising seeks to magnify the unique moments connecting their lives. From Larson’s Minnesotan ancestors building their prairie homestead to DeJong’s Dutch family immigrating to Cincinnati, A Raising spans over 160 years. Historical scenes are collected and complied and layered atop of one another, condensing time into one singular moment.
A Raising (Installation Map Front), Mixed Media Installation including Audio, Speakers, Vinyl, Printed Map, Dimensions Variable, Duration: 10 Minute loop, 2018
A Raising (Installation Map Back), Mixed Media Installation including Audio, Speakers, Vinyl, Printed Map, Dimensions Variable, Duration: 10 Minute loop, 2018
A Raising, Installation View
A Raising, Installation View
A Raising, Installation View
1. Minnesota, 1854
Chris Larson’s 4th great-grandparents have just immigrated from Sweden and are arriving on the Minnesota frontier where they begin to build their homestead.
3. 7th Street Entry, 1981
Chris is at 7th Street Entry, a rock venue in
Minneapolis, for the first time. He watches punk band Hüsker Dü perform and witnesses the drummer, Grant Hart, who will later become a friend and recurring participant in Chris’ work.
Audio Tour
Audio Tour disguises itself as a conventional museum audio tour for Cincinnati’s Contemporary Arts Center. Visitors receive a media player, headphones, and an information card. But unlike a standard audio tour, Audio Tour ignores the exhibits on display. Instead, it addresses philosophical, historical, and universal ideas and information, framing the CAC in alternative ways.
By juxtaposing the story of the land on which the museum sits with its present-day appearance—its modern facilities, idiosyncrasies, employees, and other inner workings—the piece strives to aurally frame the museum in its specific time and place. Audio Tour seeks to synthesize the past, present, and future of the CAC.
Audio Tour (charging station), Audio, Media Players, Charging Station, and Pamphlet, Duration: 18 min. 25 sec., 2017
Audio Tour (museum sign), Audio, Media Players, Charging Station, and Pamphlet, Duration: 18 min. 25 sec., 2017
Audio Tour (Promotional Video), Video, 1 min. 37 sec., 2017
Audio Tour: Introduction (Video Supplement for In-Person Experience), Audio, Media Players, Charging Station, and Pamphlet, 2 min. 39 sec., 2017
Audio Tour: Drinking Fountain (Video Supplement for In-Person Experience), Audio, Media Players, Charging Station, and Pamphlet, 2 min. 1 sec., 2017
Drawing and Sculpture Examples
Museum Border, Graphite on Paper
51” X 41”, 2014
Museum Border (Detail), Graphite on Paper
51” X 41”, 2014
Museum Border (Detail), Graphite on Paper
51” X 41”, 2014
Frame, Graphite on Cut Paper
24” X 33” 2014
Frame, Graphite on Cut Paper
24” X 33” 2014
Frame, Graphite on Cut Paper
24” X 33”, 2014
All The Gallery Wall Colors At The Cincinnati Art Museum, Acrylic paint on wall, 65” X 3.5”, 2014
All The Gallery Wall Colors At The Cincinnati Art Museum, Acrylic paint on wall, 65” X 3.5”, 2014
All The Gallery Wall Colors At The Cincinnati Art Museum, Acrylic paint on wall, 65” X 3.5”, 2014
Old World (Stonehenge), Floral Foam, Acrylic Paint, Pastel, Clamp Lamps
66" x 27" x 6.5”, 2013
Old World (Stonehenge), Floral Foam, Acrylic Paint, Pastel, Clamp Lamps
66" x 27" x 6.5”, 2013