“Filmmaking and writing are also very intimate and creative, but the thing about art – whether it’s performance or an app or a sculpture – is its ability to fit into odd spaces in my life and be a little more built on the relationships that happen in the moment.” These are the words of author, filmmaker and performance artist Miranda July (b. 1974), who is known for a continuously growing number of projects that include Kajilionaire (2020), No One Belongs Here More than You (2007) and New Society (2015). Instead of staying within one craft, she has cultivated an admirable ability to flit between disciplines. Not only is this impressive, it’s a testament to the two threads that connect many mediums that might seem disconnected: creativity and self-expression. To celebrate multidisciplinary practices, we’ve compiled a list of exhibitions that link everything from design, literature and music to fashion, film and sculpture.

The Art of Noise | SFMOMA | 4 May – 19 August

San Francisco Museum of Modern Art celebrates ground-breaking design in their upcoming exhibition dedicated to objects that enhance and visualise the musical experience. The Art of Noise spans diverse media, from concert posters to record albums, phonographs to digital music players and handheld radios to surround sound. There are a staggering 800 works on display – including 550 posters, 150 album covers and four large-scale installations – that take visitors on a visual journey through the world of sound. It’s an in-depth survey into the ways design has shaped our relationship to music over the last century.

Elmgreen & Dragset: READ | Kunsthalle Praha | Until 22 April

Michael Elmgreen and Ingar Dragset are an artistic duo who have worked collaboratively since 1995 to challenge conventional modes of exhibition-making and change the ways audiences get to interact with art. READ marks their first major exhibition in Czechia, where they will present work alongside sixty other key creatives. They transform Kunsthalle Praha into a curious public library, inviting readers into an exploration of Prague’s literary heritage. It’s an ode to the enduring and historic relevance of books whilst exploring our relationship with knowledge and books as physical objects in the digital age.

Exteriors: Annie Ernaux & Photography | MEP | Until 26 May

This exhibition at MEP celebrates the close relationship between the photographic medium and the work of Nobel-Prize winning writer Annie Ernaux (b. 1940), who is acclaimed for “for the courage and clinical acuity with which she uncovers the collective restraints of personal memory.” The author’s grounded and direct language spoke directly about women’s lives and desires, encompassed in books such as A Woman’s Story (1988) and The Years (2008). It combines texts from Ernaux’s Exteriors (Journal du dehors) (1993) with more than 150 images from photographers such as Daido Moriyama, Dolorès Marat and Issei Soda. 

Miranda July: New Society | Prada Foundation Observatory | Until 14 October

Prada Foundation presents the first museum exhibition dedicated to the work of American artist, director and writer Miranda July at The Observatory, Milan. New Society traces her career across thirty-years, beginning from the 1990s until the present. On display are a selection of July’s short films, performance pieces and installation works, such as F.A.M.I.L.Y (Falling Apart Meanwhile I Love You). This is a multi-channel installation documenting the artist’s year-long collaboration with seven performers via Instagram. Attendees will also get to watch July’s entire filmography in special screenings held at Cinema Godard.

Sabrina Ratté: Inflorescences | Fotografiska Shanghai | Until 23 June

Sabrina Ratté challenges traditional understandings of the boundaries between technology and nature from a unique, multidisciplinary vantage point. Fotografiska Shanghai is the setting for her new series, Inflorescences, which comprises four videos and four sculptures. Combining 3D scanning technology and Blender animation, Ratté digitized discarded electronic devices and transformed them into a new, digital ecosystem. She mirrors this process with sculptural works, bringing concepts of technology and symbiosis to life. Her work transports us into a hypothetical future where nature coexists with human waste.

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Image Credits:

1. Yuri Suzuki, Arborhythm, 2024 (installation rendering); © Yuri Suzuki.
2. Achille and Piergiacomo Castiglioni, RR126 Stereo System, manufactured by Brionvega, 1965, San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, Accessions Committee purchase, by exchange, through a gift of Michael D. Abrams; photo: Don Ross.
3. Elmgreen & Draget: READ, exhibition view © Jan Malý.
4. Dolorès Marat, La femme aux gants (Woman with gloves), 1987 Fresson four-colour pigment print MEP Collection, Paris. Acquired in 2001. © Dolorès Marat.
5. Miran da July July in Love Diamond , 1 998 Portland Institute of Contemporary Art, Portland, Oregon Courtesy Miranda July Studio.
6. Inflorescences III_03, 2023 © Sabrina Ratté Canada.