Microscope is very pleased to present “Phantom Power,” the first solo exhibition at the gallery of new and recent works by New York-based artist Kamari Carter.

The sound installations and single-channel videos by Carter — who works mainly with sound, moving image and installation — may be considered as an invitation to ask oneself whose narratives and voices are heard and how that reflects upon systems of control and oppression in the United States. Through scrupulous editing, voice amplification, and use of various broadcasting technologies, Carter confronts the viewer with the urgency of current threats to our society, as well as those in our history that many would prefer to ignore or forget.

In the real-time audio installation “Event Horizon” (2023), 10 black megaphones attached to the wall and aimed at the gallery listeners below broadcast live-feed police radio transmissions from locations across the US that have the highest rate of deaths of Black Americans at the hands of the police. Through intermittent sound bursts of private conversations among law enforcement officers on the job, Carter grants us rare access into the behind-the-scenes thoughts and decisions of those whose immediate choices and actions can determine someone’s fate.

A recent, brutal, and ultimately deadly arrest is the subject of the single-channel video “A Ballad for Black Blood” (2020). In the work, Carter juxtaposes serene imagery such as birds soaring in a blue sky with an unsettling soundtrack that starts with transmissions of emergency medical services recorded during the arrest of 23-year old Elijah McClain. Black & white sequences of bubbles of air rising underwater draw connections to McClain’s death on August 19, 2019 just a few days after he was subjected to excessive restraints and a deadly chokehold by the Colorado police.

Carter’s installation “I know I’ve hurt you, I’m sorry” (2022) copes with “the lasting effects of the infamous Jonestown cult,” which was led for 23 years by Jim Jones before tragically ending on November 18, 1978 with the murder-suicide of 918 individuals, including 304 children. Most of the members died by drinking a lethal cocktail of grape Flavor Aid, cyanide, diazepam, and other poisonous ingredients. For this work, the contents of 304 grape Kool-Aid powder packages are displayed inside a clear cube positioned near a directional speaker playing the artist’s highly edited version of the sound recording of the event — known as the “death tape.” Carter’s version focuses mostly on the sounds of babies crying and the somber background music.

Lastly, the new short video “Original Programming” (2023) addresses the American myth, exemplifying what Carter describes as “the unflinching and unwavering American belief” through tightly edited scenes from advertisements, cartoons, news and archival films such as “Story of Our Flag” (1939), “The Egg and US” (1952), and Super Bowl footage of Whitney Houston singing the National Anthem, among others. The work, which references the experience of advancing or rewinding a movie or of channel surfing, questions who this myth is about and for.

Kamari Carter (b. 1992) is a New York-based artist working primarily with sound, video, installation, and performance. His practice circumvents materiality and familiarity through a variety of recording and amplification techniques to investigate notions such as space, systems of identity, oppression, control, and surveillance. Driven by the probative nature of perception, Carter’s work seeks to expand narrative structures through sonic stillness. His work has been exhibited at Museum of Modern Art (MoMA), New York; Rhode Island School of Design (RISD) Museum, Providence, RI; Mana Contemporary, Jersey City, NJ; Flux Factory, Long Island City, NY; Wave Hill, New York; Fridman Gallery, New York; and Automata Arts, Los Angeles, among others, and has been featured in publications including Artnet, Flash Art, Precog Magazine, and Whitewall, among others. Carter holds a BFA in Music Technology from California Institute of the Arts and an MFA in Sound Art from Columbia University.

Exhibition Date: April 6 – May 13, 2023

Location: Microscope Gallery

525 West 29th Street, 2nd Floor, New York, NY 10001.

Gallery Hours: 

Tuesday-Saturday, 12-6pm 

For inquiries or appointments please contact the gallery at [email protected] 

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