Tristan Perich, Microtonal Wall, 2011

On August 10, MoMA opens its first major exhibition of sound art, called Soundings: A Contemporary Score. (Long overdue, for those of us who have long been following trends in sound art.) The exhibition features new works by Carsten Nicolai, Jacob Kierkegaard, Tristan Perich, Susan Philipsz, and others that use sound to redefine visitors' expectations of what an art museum should be, blurring the lines between audio and visual stimuli.

As MoMA Director Glenn Lowry told a gathering of press representatives this morning: "Our mission is to follow artists, to go where they're going and offer access to the public. Sound is an area which has created some of the most interesting work of the last several decades."

More pics from this morning's preview after the jump.