2 sculptures, painted plastic, both ca. 150x170x200 cm
The two-part sculpture Soundcheck by the artist duo Johnson and Johnson (Indrek Köster and Taavi Talve) raises the question of racial and ethnic sensitivity in an inevitably globalising Estonian society. The work consists of two stylised sculptures with their skin colours reversed: one depicts the head of a man with African features, the other with Caucasian features. Although their socially stigmatised characteristics have been exchanged, the two figures are united by national symbolism, prompting the question of to what extent Estonian culture belongs exclusively to ethnic Estonians. Soundcheck refers to a sound check, yet in this case the fault may lie not necessarily with the sound, but with the audience.
Excerpt from the artists’ accompanying text for the exhibition Sculpture Speaks: Power and Freedom:
“Can someone dressed in traditional Mulgimaa folk costume withstand a Ukrainian or Russian choir performing at the Song Festival? Can an African person wear a cornflower in their buttonhole? Is a foreign worker allowed only to work, or is pissing among the junipers and celebrating at beer festivals a privilege reserved only for? Is Eesti Energia’s accumulated capital outflows to Jordan’s oil shale fields an Estonia’s Business? Soundcheck is a test signal from the stage to the auditorium. Whether the response from the audience is ‘tolerant’ silence, the shouting of neo-Nazis, or something else entirely, depends on the audience itself.”
The work was created for the Estonian Sculptors’ Association annual exhibition Sculpture Speaks: Power and Freedom at Tallinn Art Hall in 2007, curated by Kirke Kangro, Elin Kard, and Mari-Liis Tammi. The sculptural group has been deposited with EKKM by the artists and is one of the few works in the collection that remains on permanent display.