Berlin-based artist and composer Ari Benjamin Meyers often explores the possibilities of music experiences in the context of visual art. In the exhibition Black Thoughts (2013), he paid tribute to the composer Erik Satie (1866–1925) at Gallery Esther Schipper. In the main room is Erik Saties’ composition Vexations (1893) in the center. Based on Satie’s notorious instruction to perform the one-sided composition 840 times in succession, the artist composed his own version of the piece and, instead of playing it, wrote it down 840 times.

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The hand-written copies of the music score, entitled Vexations 2, are transcribed from memory, thus each page may contain unexpected changes. We customized 840 music sheets for Meyers’ new composition for the presentation.