Was: More Washing Machines

Honestly, I was not planning on having a washing machine theme this week, but after The Drying Green I stumbled upon another piece of sound art which has to do with wet clothes and the sound of washing machines, and this time it is simply called Was.

In the installation, created by Wessel Westerveld and Lydia van de Streek, water keeps on dripping from the wet clothes onto the water on the floor, creating a concert of dripping sounds. The washing machine kicks in now and then, creating a low rumbling sound, and the installation keeps the clothes wet at all times.

I am sorry that I do not have a video of the installation to show you, but on Wessel Westerveld’s website you can read more about his work and watch a few videos of his installations. Happy washing!

Minus 60° - Sound and Light Installation

The sound of the surround sound installation Minus 60° bears quite some resemblance to the music of Ryoji Ikeda. If you have ever seen one of Ikeda’s live performances you have experienced the connection between his music and his visuals, mostly consisting of abstract, black and white patterns. The visual always tightly synchronized to the audible.

In Minus 60°, a sound installation by Karl Kliem, the same feeling arises, but now we are not watching from the outside, but standing in the middle of it. There are six channels of sound and each channel has its own fluorescent tube, flashing with the music. Although the idea is simple, it works. The clicks and buzzing of the music fits the clinical white lights very well. 

Fine Collection of Curious Sound Objects

This Fine Collection of Curious Sound Objects is a project by Georg Reil and Kathy Scheuring. It is nice to see how they created a piece of sound art that also looks great. We see a couple of everyday objects which are modified to surprise users with their sonic abilities.  

All speakers, microphones and cables are carefully hidden inside the objects so they do not spoil the magic. While the sonic results are not mind blowing, the strength of this sound installation is how intuitive the and simple the objects work. They seem fun to play with for a while, and then put them away because of their limited functionality.

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The Wave Organ in San Francisco

This is probably a familiar place for the locals, but believe it or not, I had never heard of the Wave Organ in San Francisco before. The concept of this acoustic sculpture was developed by Peter Richards, and installed in collaboration with George Gonzales. 

The construction of the Wave Organ was completed in 1986 and treats visitors to sonic surprises ever since. As the water moves in and out of the pipes as the waves hit, wonderful sounds are generated. It is not loud, and to fully enjoy it visitors need to listen actively. 

I think an installation like the Wave Organ demonstrates a great way of creating a sonically pleasant environment by helping nature just a little bit. It subtly adds a sparkle to the sounds of the wind and the waves, which are already beautiful by themselves. 

Works For Turntable by Stephen Cornford

After his great answers to the Five Sound Questions I would like to share Stephen Cornford’s Works For Turntable with you. A very nice composition for kinetic sculptures on ‘prepared turntables’. 

The strength of the work lies in the combination of the different sounds, and by adding and removing layers the repetition of the individual parts never becomes boring.

It is also the mechanical nature of the looping sounds that keeps them interesting to listen to. Unlike a lot of contemporary electronic loop-based music with the same sounds copy-pasted over and over again, in these Works For Turntable the looping sound is never exactly the same, there are slight variations in every turn.

Architectures of Silence by Tom Kotik

Tom Kotik’s initial idea was to build a sound proof room with windows and put a rock band inside, playing at a top-volume, with the audience outside, not hearing anything. For financial reasons Tom decided to simplify the idea and created Rational Impulse, a sound proof box holding two speakers playing loud music.  

In later works he left out the noise but stayed on the subject of sound proofing and silence. An interesting idea how we can construct silence ourselves, in what Kotik calls ‘Architecture of Silence’. How do noise and silence influence us and the world around us? 

Rational Impulse was created in 2004, but from March 4th to April 25th, 2010, Tom Kotik’s work is exhibited at the Fundación Joan Miró in Barcelona. 

Etude No.13

Japanese artist Mamoru creates ‘sound art’ by using normal, everyday objects and placing them in an abnormal situation. He calls these art works “Etudes”. 

Mamoru invites his audience to deeply listen to what is around them. In one piece the audience is asked to eat together with the artist, thus becoming part of the artwork itself. A great example of ‘Everyday Listening’. 

For Etude No.13 we listen to ice melting. Ice cubes are hung from the ceiling, and we hear the dripping of the ice melting. Next to that the sound of melting water in small glass tubes filled with frozen water is amplified by even smaller glass funnels. There is a sound example on Mamoru’s website.

Sync/Lost

The history of modern electronic music can be explored with Sync/Lost, an interactive multi-user installation, created by 3Bits, a creative studio from Brazil. Up to three users can interact with the installation simultaneously. 

The installation uses Wii-motes and wireless headphones or speakers. Users can browse and listen to the different genres and see the connections between them. On the right of the screen we find more information about the selected tracks.

Via Richard van Tol

condemned_bulbes

condemned_bulbes is a sound and light installation created by digital creation studio artificiel. The installation was first exposed in 2003 but is still shown at festivals around the globe.

The installation is made of 1000W incandescent light bulbs, controlled by a custom made light dimmer that can bring the bulbs in "a state of excitation that is clearly audible and controllable". I especially like the crackling sound in between the noisy parts.

Extended Play

What we hear and what we see are equally important, that is my opinion. Even while watching a movie, the right sound and the right music at the right moment can make us cry or make us laugh.

Sound artist Janek Schaefer creates sound installations that not only sound great but also look wonderful. Even the color and intensity of the light is carefully chosen.

Extended play is a very personal conceptual sound installation in which the unsynchronized sound of nine vintage turn tables is combined. The concept is best described by the artist himself. To hear the story behind Extended Play, watch the video on his website.

You can visit a retrospective of Schaefer's sound based work at the Bluecoat gallery, Liverpool, until January 17th, 2010.