Exhibition at Cooper Hewitt Explores Sound as Design Element and Identity Marker

The exhibition 'The Art of Noise' is on view at the Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum in New York City through August 16. It examines the interplay between music, product design, and graphic design over the past century, inspired by Italian futurist Luigi Russolo's 1913 manifesto of the same name. Curated by Joseph Becker, originally from SFMOMA in 2024, the show features around 300 objects from both institutions' collections. It traces the evolution of music playback devices, highlighting how technology like transistor radios, pioneered by Painter, Teague & Petertil's Regency TR-1 in 1954, enabled private listening and influenced later innovations such as Sony's Walkman and Apple's iPod. The exhibition also explores sound's role in interior design, with examples including Dieter Rams's minimalist audio systems for Braun and Wendell Castle's wood-carved Stereo Chest. Materials like bentwood and Bakelite are showcased in radios by designers such as Charles and Ray Eames and the Castiglioni brothers. Notable pieces include Ron Arad's 1983 concrete stereo, a critique of 1980s consumerism, and album covers by Reid Miles for Blue Note Records, emphasizing visual and sonic minimalism. Collaborations include teenage engineering's interactive seating and Devon Turnbull's handmade audio installation. The show addresses gaps in representation, such as the absence of 1990s rave culture and riot grrrl ephemera, while reflecting on sound's historical and contemporary significance in shaping identity and culture.