Terry Adkins
Off Minor
2004
mixed media
48 x 81 x 48 inches

Off Minor explores Beethoven’s loss of hearing (part of a larger body of work exploring Beethoven’s life and identity). In a way this oversized-music box mechanism memorializes the tragedy of one of the world’s greatest composers losing such an important skill. Additionally it makes that tragedy palpable through an auditory pain with its its abrasive intrusion into space. The instrument makes a sudden violent sound, slightly jangly but also screeching as metal hits against metal and a spring loudly winds. The piece winds itself up and then leaves you quite suddenly back in the silence of the room, a disorienting experience in the sonic landscape.