Skip to main content
Label Text

Sime is one of the princial artists of Ethiopia and of his hometown of Addis Ababa. His influence goes far beyond his artmaking. Along with Meskerem Assegued, he co-founded and designed the new international art center, the Zoma Museum in Addis Ababa. This work is comprised of 52 panels covered with braided, knotted, and assembled repurposed electrical wiring collected over 10 years, in a process of reuse. The title refers to the tenuous balance between the progress technology has made possible and its detrimental impact on the environment. According to the artist, the term noiseless refers to the absence of noise that allows our minds to create unfamiliar and abstract images. Sime's work is widely exhibited and collected. This is the first work by the artist to enter the collections.

NEWS, Oct|Nov|Dec 2019


DimensionsOverall: 117 × 63 1/2 in. (297.2 × 161.3 cm)
Panel (each): 9 × 15 3/4 in. (22.9 × 40 cm)
Accession Number 2019.17.a-.zz
Classificationssculpture

Images (2)

Photo Credit: Rich Sanders, Des Moines
Photo Credit: Rich Sanders, Des Moines
Tightrope: Noiseless 12
Photo Credit: Rich Sanders, Des Moines
Photo Credit: Rich Sanders, Des Moines
Photo Credit: Rich Sanders, Des Moines
Eva Hesse
1970
Photo Credit: Richard Sanders, Des Moines
Joel Shapiro
2005
Photo Credit: Rich Sanders, Des Moines
Petah Coyne
1997-1998
Photo Credit: Rich Sanders, Des Moines
William T. Wiley
1975
Photo Credit: Rich Sanders, Des Moines
Alexander Calder
1960
Photo Credit: Paul Crosby
Phyllida Barlow
2012
Photo Credit: Rich Sanders, Des Moines
El Anatsui
2012
Photo Credit: Rich Sanders, Des Moines
Tony Feher
2012
Photo Credit: Rich Sanders, Des Moines
Truman Lowe
1990
Photo Credit: Rich Sanders, Des Moines
Isabel Bishop
1963