Paola Pivi on designboom listens: music and memory
Italian artist Paola Pivi shares her thoughts on music, 90s memories, and visual art in the designboom listens series.
Stock photo for illustration only, not from the actual event
- Paola Pivi views music as a vessel for memory rather than inspiration.
- She prefers experimental music and live performances over rigid structures.
- Her installation Leoni explores how music and visual art differ in time.
- She enjoys daily live chamber concerts from her husband, Karma Culture Brothers.
In a recent interview for the designboom listens series, Italian contemporary artist Paola Pivi opened up about the songs that have stayed with her and how music intertwines with her life. Pivi rarely turns to music for inspiration or focus, noting that when she gets stuck, her approach is to act, move, search, and despair rather than rely on melodies.
Music enters her world through memories of late-night Italian television, tunes that transport her back to the 1990s, and the live compositions of her husband, Karma Culture Brothers. Throughout the interview, she reflects on the fundamental differences between how audio and visual art operate in terms of time and experience.
"Because music needs time and visual art is instant."
Paola Pivi
Pivi finds conventional song structures restrictive, preferring the unpredictable nature of experimental music. For instance, listening to Franco Battiato’s Summer on a Solitary Beach through a 24-channel speaker system at Triennale Milano brought back vivid car ride memories from decades ago, though hearing the same track online later felt disturbing to her.
Stock photo for illustration only, not from the actual event
Paola Pivi's perspective highlights how physical environment and spatial context heavily influence our perception of sound and art. In contemporary art installations, the transition from a specialized acoustic room to a digital device can fundamentally alter emotional impact, explaining why spatial sound and lighting play such critical roles in modern immersive exhibitions.
The conversation also touches on tracks that define her creative practice, such as Sex Pistols' God Save the Queen, sentimental 90s Italian television clips featuring Gianluca Grignani, and Patti Smith's Because the Night, which marked late-night television programming in her earlier years.
Source: designboom
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