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CELEBRATE THE OPENING OF ART OF NOISE AND LEARN MORE ABOUT THE GROUNDBREAKING EXHIBITION

From concert posters to record albums, phonographs to digital music players, handheld radios to sound systems, Art of Noise takes visitors on an exploration of how design has transformed our relationship to music over the past 100 years. Join us to learn more about this groundbreaking exhibition with a special introductory conversation with Joseph Becker, curator of architecture and design at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, and Gary Hustwit, a documentary filmmaker known for his work addressing design and music.

Becker and Hustwit will reveal insights into the history and making of the exhibition, which travels to Cooper Hewitt from SFMOMA. At Cooper Hewitt, Art of Noise will feature more than 300 objects drawn largely from the collections of Cooper Hewitt and SFMOMA, as well as unique sound environments designed by Stockholm-based studio teenage engineering and multi-disciplinary artist Devon Turnbull.

After the talk, the audience will be invited to explore the exhibition and celebrate the opening!

SPEAKERS 

Joseph Becker is the Curator of Architecture and Design at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, where his work explores the intersections of architecture, design, art, and visual culture. Recent exhibitions include Art of Noise (2024), Barbara Stauffacher Solomon: Strips of Stripes (2023), Marshall Brown Projects: Dequindre Civic Academy (2023), Tauba Auerbach: S v Z (2022), The Sea Ranch: Architecture, Environment, and Idealism (2018–19), Donald Judd: Specific Furniture (2018), and Tomás Saraceno: Stillness in Motion – Cloud Cities (2017). His publications include Tauba Auerbach: S v Z (SFMOMA/D.A.P., 2020), The Sea Ranch (Del Monico/Prestel, 2018), and contributions to Making Home (Cooper Hewitt/MIT, 2025), The Craft of Place: Mork-Ulnes Architects (Park Books, 2024), Exquisite Experiments: The Early Work of Lebbeus Woods (Wiley, 2024), among others.

Gary Hustwit has established himself as a central figure in documentary cinema addressing design and its cultural impact, best known for his films Helvetica, Objectified, and Urbanized. His later films, including Rams and the recent generative documentary about Brian Eno, expand this investigation into the domains of music, computational creativity, and technological innovation. Through these works, Hustwit interrogates the systems, tools, and aesthetic paradigms that shape contemporary creative life.

AccessibiliTy & What to Expect

  • Format: The program will begin with a brief welcome, then the speakers will engage in a conversation. It will end with an optional Q&A with the audience. The audience will then be invited to explore the exhibition.
  • About the space: This program will take place in Cooper Hewitt’s Lecture Room on the ground floor of the museum. It is fully wheelchair accessible. There is an accessible restroom on the ground floor. Read more about accessibility at Cooper Hewitt.
  • Accommodations: The program will have live CART captioning. We welcome questions and accommodation requests that support your participation. Email us at CHEducation@si.edu or let us know when you register. Please make your request as far in advance as possible—preferably at least ten days before the program date.

Support 

This exhibition is made possible by the August Heckscher Exhibition Fund, the Ehrenkranz Fund, the Barbara and Morton Mandel Design Gallery Endowment Fund, the Fisher Arts Impact Fund, and Jonathan Schroeder and Janet Borgerson.