{"id":126783,"date":"2025-12-10T12:55:25","date_gmt":"2025-12-10T17:55:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/cfa\/?post_type=bu-article&p=126783"},"modified":"2025-12-10T12:56:11","modified_gmt":"2025-12-10T17:56:11","slug":"creatives-in-practice-joshua-fineberg","status":"publish","type":"bu-article","link":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/cfa\/news\/articles\/2025\/creatives-in-practice-joshua-fineberg\/","title":{"rendered":"Creatives in Practice: Joshua Fineberg"},"content":{"rendered":"\t
\n\t\t
\n\n\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\"\"\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\n\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t
\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t
\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tResearch<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t

\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tCREATIVES IN PRACTICE: JOSHUA FINEBERG<\/strong>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/h1>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t

Boston University professor of composition and director of BU Center for New Music, Joshua Fineberg, recently completed a site-specific sound, light, and water installation at the Goethe-Institut Boston as part of the Boston Public Art Triennial. <\/h4>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\n\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\n\t<\/div>\n\n\t\n
\n\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t
December 10, 2025<\/div>\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\tTwitter<\/span><\/span>\n\t\t\tFacebook<\/span><\/span>\n\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\t\n\n\n

One thing that gravitates the next generation of artists to Boston University College of Fine Arts<\/a>? Knowing that their professors, advisors, and mentors are also working artists, gaining real-world experience and bringing that back into the classroom through their curriculum, lessons, and talks. In CFA\u2019s Creatives in Practice<\/strong><\/em> series, your favorite CFA faculty and staff members share the work they\u2019re doing off campus, locally, nationally, and globally.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This semester, multidisciplinary art exhibitions came to life throughout the city of Boston via a unique and collaborative partnership between Boston University College of Fine Arts School of Visual Arts<\/strong><\/a>, School of Music<\/strong><\/a>‘s Joshua Fineberg<\/strong><\/a>, and BU composition<\/strong><\/a> and sculpture<\/a> students<\/strong>.<\/p><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

In October, BU School of Visual Arts and School of Music, in collaboration with the Berlin-based arts collective House for the End of the World (HEW)<\/strong>, presented Sites of Convergence<\/em>, multi-site interdisciplinary exhibitions that transformed less-traditional spaces into dynamic meeting points where ideas, people, and practices intersect. The exhibitions explored themes of technological reliance, urban development, and identity through experimental installations, sound, and performance, highlighting the potential of site-specific work as a catalyst for dialogue and exchange.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Joshua Fineberg, BU professor of composition and the director of BU Center for New Music<\/a>, was instrumental in developing this partnership, supported by the BU Institute for Excellence in Teaching & Learning<\/a>, BU Office for the Arts<\/a>, and the Goethe-Institut Boston<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sites of Convergence<\/em> consisted of two consecutive exhibitions. The first, The Other One: Dependency, Distortion, and Displacement<\/em>, ran at the Goethe-Institut Boston from October 11 through 14 and featured the works of HEW artists Fineberg, performance artist Elana Katz<\/strong>, and AI and visual artist Dario Srbic<\/strong>. As part of the Boston Public Art Triennial, Fineberg\u2019s site-specific sound, light, and water installation, out of the dead land<\/em> immersed viewers in a visual-sonic experience that induced a sense of disorientation. Playing for nearly 20 minutes, the installation featured the recorded cello, electronic sounds, light, and water.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The second exhibition was a student-focused one, where, “in the basement of Boston University\u2019s 111 Cummington Mall, the students showing work in Interstice<\/em> have taken classrooms B34, B36, and B40, along with their eerie contents, as a starting point for creating site-responsive artwork,” writes E. Tubergen<\/a><\/strong>, Assistant Professor of Art, Sculpture. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In CFA’s Creatives in Practice<\/em>, Fineberg shares the importance of continuing to make art while educating and inspiring the next generation of artists and how music and visual arts can come together to create a one-of-a-kind experience. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Joshua Fineberg\u2019s site-specific sound, light, and water installation, out of the dead land<\/em> immersed viewers in a visual-sonic experience that induced a sense of disorientation. Photo by Mark R\u00f6misch<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
<\/div>\n\n\n\n
<\/div>\n\n\n\n
\"\"
\n

Q&A WITH JOSHUA FINEBERG<\/strong><\/h2>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n
<\/div>\n\n\n\n
CFA<\/em>: Tell us more about Sites of Convergence<\/em> and what this opportunity means for both working artists and student artists. <\/h5>\n\n\n\n

Fineberg:<\/strong><\/em> This exhibition was in collaboration with HEW Berlin, a nomadic artist collective that I have worked with before, which focuses on site-specific art in locations that activate place and memory. HEW was founded in Berlin in 2020 by Elana Katz, and this Boston show was its first edition outside of Germany.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In relation to this exhibition, there was also a site-specific exhibition of student works in a disused set of classrooms on the BU campus, titled Interstice<\/a><\/em>. CFA artists included undergraduate and graduate sculpture students and composition students. This marks one of the first major collaborations of BU School of Visual Arts and School of Music students working together to make multi-disciplinary art installations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n
\"\"<\/figure><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/figure><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/figure><\/div><\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n
How does your real-world experience in the field connect to your role as a faculty member at CFA?<\/h5>\n\n\n\n

I see one of my primary roles as a faculty member to be modeling a life in art. For composers and artists, building a life in art is not just about what you know; it is also about who you are as a human being and how you live your life. The professional world is changing rapidly in the arts, and this makes it even more important for artists to think about their work and their role in society. Nothing I can say to a student will be as important in demonstrating these ideas as the life I live and the work I make.<\/p>\n\n\n\n