Nirvana
Curator: Jacob McMurray
Exhibition Design: Wonder Mine
Interactive Design: Belle & Wissell
Graphic Design: Belle & Wissell
Films: David Wulzen
Art Direction: Jacob McMurray, Ken Burns
Fabrication: Addy Froehlich, Nick Rempel
Venue:
Experience Music Project, April 16, 2011 - present
Synopsis:
Nirvana: Taking Punk to the Masses
In late 1991, Nirvana exploded on the national music scene, transforming Seattle and the Pacific Northwest from a faraway backwater to the epicenter of popular music culture. Nirvana's infectious single, “Smells Like Teen Spirit,” saturated the airwaves and MTV, sparking a worldwide grunge revolution, extinguishing the rule of hair metal and giving birth to alternative rock.
This is the public and personal story of Nirvana, from their early roots in Aberdeen, Washington, to the dizzying scope of the world stage. This is also the story of the underground music scene, of which Nirvana was a part, as it developed within the Pacific Northwest and throughout the United States from the birth of punk rock in the mid-1970s. For over a decade, underground bands made inroads into the mainstream, but Nirvana was the final step in this process. With a single song, the barrier between underground and mainstream culture shattered. Nirvana was a band for only six years, but they changed music forever, delivering the message of their punk roots wrapped in a pop package, and taking punk to the masses.
Artifacts: over 200 artifacts related to Nirvana and its story.
Mural photographs: Life-scale mural photographs by Charles Peterson, Alice Wheeler, and Tracy Marander.
Exhibition Score: The gallery features a custom-composed score by Steve Fisk, a prolific musician and producer who recorded many of the grunge-era superstars, including Nirvana, Soundgarden and Screaming Trees.
Oral Histories: Exhibition videos and interactive elements feature clips from over 100 filmed oral history interviews.
Interactives: Six touch-sensitive interactives weave together hundreds of digital assets from EMP’s permanent archives, providing several hours of hours of additional content. A “Nirvana confessional” provides an area for visitors to record their own thoughts about Nirvana.
Listening Stations: Five listening stations allow visitors to hear Nirvana’s catalog and other underground and punk records that were being produced during that time.
Audio Guide: The exhibition features an optional iPod-delivered audio guide, where Nirvana bassist Krist Novoselic reflects on events and artifacts throughout the exhibition.
More information at the EMP Museum website.
Exhibition Design: Wonder Mine
Interactive Design: Belle & Wissell
Graphic Design: Belle & Wissell
Films: David Wulzen
Art Direction: Jacob McMurray, Ken Burns
Fabrication: Addy Froehlich, Nick Rempel
Venue:
Experience Music Project, April 16, 2011 - present
Synopsis:
Nirvana: Taking Punk to the Masses
In late 1991, Nirvana exploded on the national music scene, transforming Seattle and the Pacific Northwest from a faraway backwater to the epicenter of popular music culture. Nirvana's infectious single, “Smells Like Teen Spirit,” saturated the airwaves and MTV, sparking a worldwide grunge revolution, extinguishing the rule of hair metal and giving birth to alternative rock.
This is the public and personal story of Nirvana, from their early roots in Aberdeen, Washington, to the dizzying scope of the world stage. This is also the story of the underground music scene, of which Nirvana was a part, as it developed within the Pacific Northwest and throughout the United States from the birth of punk rock in the mid-1970s. For over a decade, underground bands made inroads into the mainstream, but Nirvana was the final step in this process. With a single song, the barrier between underground and mainstream culture shattered. Nirvana was a band for only six years, but they changed music forever, delivering the message of their punk roots wrapped in a pop package, and taking punk to the masses.
Artifacts: over 200 artifacts related to Nirvana and its story.
Mural photographs: Life-scale mural photographs by Charles Peterson, Alice Wheeler, and Tracy Marander.
Exhibition Score: The gallery features a custom-composed score by Steve Fisk, a prolific musician and producer who recorded many of the grunge-era superstars, including Nirvana, Soundgarden and Screaming Trees.
Oral Histories: Exhibition videos and interactive elements feature clips from over 100 filmed oral history interviews.
Interactives: Six touch-sensitive interactives weave together hundreds of digital assets from EMP’s permanent archives, providing several hours of hours of additional content. A “Nirvana confessional” provides an area for visitors to record their own thoughts about Nirvana.
Listening Stations: Five listening stations allow visitors to hear Nirvana’s catalog and other underground and punk records that were being produced during that time.
Audio Guide: The exhibition features an optional iPod-delivered audio guide, where Nirvana bassist Krist Novoselic reflects on events and artifacts throughout the exhibition.
More information at the EMP Museum website.
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