Sound design in the modern exhibition space

The article discusses sound design as a relatively new phenomenon in the culture and looks more closely to some artistic problems arising in organizing sound. Sound design is a rapidly developing, but poorly explored area of activity. Some contemporary views toward sound design are critically analyzed in the article; attempt of universal definition of this kind of activity is given. We are specially focused on special aspects of sound design in an exhibition. We explore two main situations concerning an exhibition: art sound installation and sound in museum expositions. We attempt to set up a problem of time in a piece of art of sound related to an exhibition. The difference between exhibition sound work and music work is considered. As an examples the article reviews works appeared as a collaboration of various artists and the author of the article. Finally, we try to pose a question about sound ecology and about aesthetic organization of sound in various spaces and situations.