Art you can hear: Bechtler’s ‘Collection, Reframed’ explores new senses
Innovative exhibit runs at Charlotte’s Bechtler Museum of Modern Art from July 2 through Sept. 22
The following article appeared in the June 30, 2025, edition of The Charlotte Ledger, an e-newsletter with smart and original local news for Charlotte. We offer free and paid subscription plans. More info here.
The Bechtler Museum’s ‘Collection, Reframed’ exhibition reimagines how art is experienced by turning visual pieces into immersive soundscapes
In the work “Contra Naturam,” artist Janet Biggs created a three-channel video that contrasts two scenes: ice boats navigating a frozen landscape and vision-impaired Charlotte-based dancer Davian Robinson navigating the confined interior of an ice house by touch. It is part of “Collection, Reframed: We Are Here, Beyond Vision,” which runs at Charlotte’s Bechtler Museum of Modern Art from Wednesday through Sept. 22.
by Page Leggett
Encapsulating the Bechtler Museum of Modern Art’s ambitious summer exhibition in uptown is nearly impossible. It’s about so many things: ability and disability, sight and sound, math and science and a host of other themes. But at its core, it’s about opening visitors’ eyes — and ears — to the different ways art can be experienced.
“Collection, Reframed: We Are Here, Beyond Vision,” which runs July 2 through Sept. 22, was originally conceived as a selection of pieces from the Bechtler’s 2,000-piece permanent collection, all related to the human form.
New York-based artist Janet Biggs was tapped as guest curator, but the surprising co-curator she brought on inspired Bechtler Executive Director Todd Smith to take the exhibition further.
Her co-curator, Charlotte-based dancer and choreographer Davian Robinson, is nearly blind; he can detect only light and shadows. He relies on his “very developed sense of hearing,” Biggs said, which led Biggs and Smith to ponder: Could they sonify — meaning, add sound to — some of the works?
Sonifying art: Robinson started by getting verbal descriptions of each work and then doing his own research.
Meanwhile, the exhibition’s team collected hundreds of high-resolution photos of three pieces in the museum’s permanent collection — a 2004 painting by Charlotte artist Maja Godlewska, a 1958 bronze sculpture by Barbara Hepworth and a 1968 tapestry by Pablo Picasso — and converted the data from those images into auditory representations, or soundscapes.
The three soundscapes are among the more than 60 paintings, sculptures and works on paper in “Collection, Reframed,” all of which showcase the human form. Works by some of the 20th century’s most prominent artists are featured, including Warhol, Degas, Giacometti and Matisse.
Yet it may be Biggs’ video installations — on loan from the artist — that are the real standouts. Her pieces, one of which features Robinson dancing inside the Bechtler, illuminate what bodies are capable of. The exhibition also includes:
“Hidden Within,” a four-channel video installation created with a spatial audio engineer, two mathematicians and a physicist, paired with reflecting pools and immersive sound.
“We Are Here,” an 18-page, 3D-printed book, enhanced with motion design and augmented reality.
“Bechtler Walk,” a video featuring Robinson’s stream-of-consciousness narration as he walks toward the museum, encounters the Firebird sculpture and rides the elevator to the fourth-floor gallery.
“Hidden Within” is a four-channel video installation with spatialized sound and water vibration encoders. (Courtesy of the Bechtler Museum of Modern Art)
What is a museum, and who is it for?: Biggs first discovered Robinson through a Google search for a visually impaired dancer to appear in a video installation. She’d been both inspired and angered by a 1987 debate between conservative commentator William F. Buckley Jr., and Jim Dickson, a blind sailor who attempted a solo trans-Atlantic voyage.
Dickson didn’t complete the voyage, but not because he’s blind. His voice-activated navigational system failed. Buckley, a sailor himself, was incredulous that a blind man would attempt such a feat.
Buckley said in the debate, “I wouldn’t take a blind person to the Grand Canyon or to the ballet. It is profane to suppose that a cripple can run, a deaf man hear or a blind man see … It is against nature, Contra Naturam.”
Biggs’ response is a three-channel video that juxtaposes two scenes: ice boats navigating a frozen landscape and Robinson navigating the confines of an ice house by touch. It’s called “Contra Naturam,” and it’s one of the works included in the show.
When you consider the question, “Who is a museum for?” you can imagine Buckley arguing that it’s not meant for people with visual impairments. Because Dickson was blind, Buckley decided certain things — solo sailing, ballets — should be off-limits to him. He failed to see that his own metaphorical blindness was limiting his world view.
But Dickson had a retort: “Mr. Buckley, you are a lot more blind than I am because you can’t see what a person can do in my circumstances.”
Biggs’ answer to that question — who’s a museum for? — shifted as a result of working on this show. She said she used to think that, if a museum had an elevator, that was sufficient for anyone with mobility challenges.
“But this process made me rethink how museums can engage the public more broadly,” she said.
In the new PBS documentary “Caregiving,” a woman whose daughter has cerebral palsy and is nonverbal laments the difficulty in doing something as simple as taking her daughter to the park.
“Disability would not be as devastating,” she says, “if the world was made for everyone.”
The world may not be made for everyone to navigate with ease. But the Bechtler is working toward creating a museum that is.
Page Leggett is a Charlotte-based freelance writer. Reach her at epageleggett@gmail.com.
➡️ Want to visit? “Collection, Reframed: We Are Here, Beyond Vision” is on view at the Bechtler from July 2 through Sept. 22. Davian Robinson and two other dancers will perform “Misregistration” live on July 12 at 5 p.m. “Misregistration,” which premiered at Virginia Tech on May 1, celebrates the strengths of individuals with disabilities. Learn more at Bechtler.org.
Need to sign up for this e-newsletter? We offer a free version, as well as paid memberships for full access to all 4 of our local newsletters:
The Charlotte Ledger is a locally owned media company that delivers smart and essential news. We strive for fairness and accuracy and will correct all known errors. The content reflects the independent editorial judgment of The Charlotte Ledger. Any advertising, paid marketing or sponsored content will be clearly labeled.
◼️ About The Ledger • Our Team • Website
◼️ Newsletters • Podcast • Newcomer Guide • A Better You email series
◼️ Subscribe • Sponsor • Events Board • Merch Store • Manage Your Account
◼️ Follow us on Facebook, Instagram, X/Twitter, LinkedIn