Skip to main content

Chris Kallmyer: Song Cycle

Jan 10 2026–Jan 9 2028

Seattle Art Museum

Brotman Forum

Song Cycle, Chris Kallmyer, 2021, black sheet metal casing, black flaps with stock font, custom poem writing integration, ​52.2 x 93.4 x 5 in, Commissioned by the Los Angeles Philharmonic, Gustavo Dudamel Artistic Director, photo: Ian Byers-Gamber.

Song Cycle is a kinetic sculpture featuring ever-changing poetry. Part imagined, part remembered, and part observed, the revolving text is continually inscribed and reinscribed by a 256-character split-flap readymade sign reminiscent of the arrival and departure boards seen at airports and train stations in the 20th century. In the Brotman Forum, Song Cycle serves as a bridge between this public space and SAM’s art galleries. Visitors arriving or departing might glance up and see a fragment of text that captivates them. The piece’s changing nature reflects the museum’s role as a place for evolving thought, not just static displays.

A musician who works in art and design, Chris Kallmyer has performed and exhibited at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, Walker Art Center, The Getty, Pulitzer Arts Foundation, San Francisco Symphony, Los Angeles Philharmonic, STUDIO TeatrGaleria, and Fondation d'entreprise Pernod Ricard, among other spaces. He has created interdisciplinary projects in collaboration with Mark Mothersbaugh, Moses Sumney, Julia Holter, and Justin Vernon and Aaron Dessner’s Eaux Claires Festival.

Kallmyer completed his MFA in 2009 at the California Institute of the Arts. During this time, he worked closely with the storefront/collective Machine Project, creating multiple projects at institutions like LACMA, Hammer Museum, The Getty, Walker Art Center, The Parsons School of Design, and the Berkeley Art Museum. Kallmyer is a longtime collaborator with the modern music collective Wild Up, with whom he was nominated for a 2023 Grammy Award for Julius Eastman’s “Stay On It.”

Song Cycle was originally commissioned by the Los Angeles Philharmonic, Gustavo Dudamel Artistic Director.

Related events

Nothing to see here, check back soon!

See what’s on at SAM


What’s on at Seattle Art Museum

Tariqa Waters: Venus is Missing

May 7 2025–Jan 4 2026

Seattle Art Museum

FriendsWithYou: Little Cloud Sky

Jun 27 2025–ongoing

Seattle Art Museum

Ash-Glazed Ceramics from Korea and Japan

Jul 9 2025–Jul 12 2027

Seattle Art Museum

Diego Cibelli: Fiori dei Miei Habiti / La Montagne EnchantĂŠe

May 31 2024–May 10 2026

Seattle Art Museum

Yirrkala: Art from Australia’s Top End

May 10 2024–ongoing

Seattle Art Museum

Lessons from the Institute of Empathy

Mar 31 2018–ongoing

Seattle Art Museum

Impressionisms: The Global Nineteenth Century

Mar 27 2024–ongoing

Seattle Art Museum

SAM on Paper: Rembrandt’s Etchings

Mar 27 2024–ongoing

Seattle Art Museum

American Art: The Stories We Carry

Oct 20 2022–ongoing

Seattle Art Museum

Chronicles of a Global East

Oct 20 2022–ongoing

Seattle Art Museum

Pacific Species

Dec 22 2022–ongoing

Seattle Art Museum

Cosmic Beings in Mesoamerican and Andean Art

Nov 10 2018–ongoing

Seattle Art Museum

Art and Life Along the Northwest Coast

Nov 26 2014–ongoing

Seattle Art Museum

Conscious Constructions

Apr 29 2011–ongoing

Seattle Art Museum

Only Connect: The Art of Devotion

Apr 29 2011–ongoing

Seattle Art Museum

Porcelain Room

May 5 2007–ongoing

Seattle Art Museum

Farm to Table: Art, Food, and Identity in the Age of Impressionism

Oct 23 2025–Jan 18 2026

Seattle Art Museum

Samantha Yun Wall: What We Leave Behind

Feb 5–Oct 4 2026

Seattle Art Museum

Beyond Mysticism: The Modern Northwest

Mar 5–Aug 2 2026

Seattle Art Museum

Monochrome: Calder and Tara Donovan

May 13 2026–Jan 3 2027

Seattle Art Museum