The perception of space is a function of what we see as well as what we hear. Tailored to the Gardner's special exhibition gallery, Floating Memories merged sound, image and object into a single poetic form and encouraged viewers to reflect in the space on the passing of time, distant memory, absence and longing.

As a classically trained cellist the Luxembourg artist Su-Mei Tse is in her element when creating a visual dialogue with sound. In this exhibition the artist embedded a gold monochrome rug in an empty wooden frame, carved with the partially worn and faded pattern of the Italian silk damask that covers the walls in the Dutch Room (second floor) and paired it with a personal flashback, an image from her childhood, of an endlessly revolving vinyl record, floating like a distant shimmering mirage. Rug, frame and image are suspended in a poetic limbo by the incessantly scratching turntable sound of a revolving LP.

An art installation such as this resonated within the Gardner Collection particularly in the Dutch Room, where time has come to a complete standstill while a sense of absence, distant memory and longing fades in and out of every empty frame.

Su-Mei Tse was an Artist-in-Residence at the Gardner in 2008. She lives and works in Luxembourg and Berlin. She realized Floating Memories in collaboration with Jean-Lou Majerus.

Publication: Su-Mei Tse: Notes

Learn more about the artist

Artist Talk
Saturday, July 18, 2009 @ 1:30pm
Join Su-Mei Tse and Curator of Contemporary Art Pieranna Cavalchini for a discussion about the exhibition and Tse’s work. FREE with museum admission.

Conversations
Thursday, September 24, 2009 @ 6:30 pm
Join us for a conversation and book preview with Su-Mei Tse; Pieranna Cavalchini, Curator of Contemporary Art; and Enrico Lunghi, Director of the MUDAM Museum, Luxembourg, to learn about the making of Notes, an artist book in conjunction with the exhibition Su-Mei Tse: Floating Memories, due out later this fall.

Gallery Talks at Gardner After Hours
Third Thursdays, July 2009 – October 2009 @ 7pm
Join us for Gardner After Hours – third Thursdays from 5:30 to 9:30pm – and, from July through October, for 7pm gallery talks in the Special Exhibition Gallery. Guest speakers will include artists Lee Mingwei (July 16) and Cliff Evans (August 20) as well as Jane Farver. Director of the MIT List Visual Arts Center (October 15).

Summer Night- Gardner After Hours
Thursday, August 20, 2009 @ 5:30-9:30 pm
Celebrate summer and Su-Mei Tse: Floating Memories tonight with music, sketching, and gallery talks on the exhibition – plus a special concert by Belgian songwriter and performer, Niko Hafkenscheid, FREE with museum admission.