MoMA Mixtape: Grace Wales Bonner on the Sacred Space between the Shape of Music and the Sounds of Art

Wayne Phoenix’s “Latika’s Grace (it’s not what you go through, it’s how you go through it)” and Agnes Martin’s Friendship

“Latika’s Grace (it’s not what you go through, it’s how you go through it)” could be as much about Agnes Martin’s dedication to her craft as it is evidence of Wayne Phoenix’s intricate sonic rendering. Whilst floating in motion, the sound evokes a connection to a deep inner space. Tranquillity and peace are discovered through repetition, considered strokes, and meaningful gestures.

Chester Lewis’s “Precious Lord” and Minnie Evans’s Untitled

At the end of Chester Lewis’s “Precious Lord” there is a wonderful aberration, a soaring finale that recalls the fractals and radiating motifs of Minnie Evans’s visionary drawings. The staccato riffs feel like a channelling of pure expression, an electrifying praise song. Evans once said, “God has sent me an angel that stands by me. [It] stands with me and directs me what to do.” With his guitar, Lewis sends praises, just as Evans pencils a chart to channel the spirit.

Smokey Haangala’s “Flowers on My Grave” and Mathias Goeritz’s Message Number 7B, Ecclesiastes VII: 6

Yes I’m tired of all this pain
I asked for sun but I get rain
A better place I’ve got to find
I’ve got to leave my sorrows behind
Where I’m going I do not know
But I feel that I must go
—Smokey Haangala

Despite the mournful contemplation of death, Smokey Haangala also offers limitless possibilities and the potential for new freedom through the afterlife. Haangala provides sight of a new horizon, which I also see in Mathias Goeritz’s work. Both I find stirring to the core, both Spirit Movers.