PHOTOPHON

source: tmrxorg

photophon #1 is an installation based on intensive acoustic research of the photoacoustic effect. The photoacoustic effect is based on the phenomena of radiant energy. A strong light source can be converted into a sound wave due to absorption and thermal excitation. This causes sound waves due to pressure variations. The photoacoustic effect was discovered in the 19th by Alexander Graham Bell. He then used candlelight, sunlight, and the first forms of electricity in order to amplify sound.

As an installation photophon #1 proposes a new way of generating sounds without the use of electronic amplification. Light creates enough energy to produce sounds. A number of almost identical photophonic objects are playing a variable tone of the fundamental frequency of 523Hz. These tones are created from white lasers that project their strong light-beams through a rotating disc which chops the beam into small fragments. The fragments will produce tones in each photophonic object. The tonality of the installation will have a constant shift in time and will have a changing vibrating micro-tonal structure.

With this installation I’m mostly interested in achieving a sonic event from pure ephemeral phenomena. I am mesmerized by the idea that sounds around us can be created with light. The conclusion that can be made from Bell’s notes and research is that any material has a sonority if you present a strong light-beam onto it. We know that every material has a resonant frequency but also every material can be ‘activated’ with light to ‘sound’ and this sound has a direct correlation to its resonant frequencies. Of course the shape of materials will also have a big impact, but this remains a side effect. For me this is quite an important revelation because it touches the world of sounds in its very essence. The sun radiates enough energy to produce sounds. You don’t need to create a sound with a direct or physical contact. Sound can happen by itself without any direct physical contact.
The utmost ephemeral aspects of sounds around us can be revealed with light. Also the fact that one can build a photo-acoustic cell from basic materials like copper and glass is a fascinating aspect for me.

photophon #1 is the first installment of a collaborative research with KU Leuven, Acoustics Lab.

photophon #1 is produced by Intro in situ and will première in Maastricht in September 2013 and is part of Resonance, the European Sound Art Network.
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source: fortlaan17

Aernoudt Jacobs lives and works in Brussels. Jacobs’ work is both phenomenological and empirical. It originates from acoustic and technological research and investigates how sounds still can yield sonic processes which will trigger the perceptive scope of the observer. Aernoudt Jacobs’ installations focuses on a central question: how can the complexity, richness and stratification of our direct, daily environment be translated into something that can really be experienced? His work has recently been presented in museums and festivals like Bergen Art Museum, Macba, ISEA, Netwerk, NIMK, Happy New Ears, Almost Cinema, STUK, Tschumi Paviljoen and Hermitage Museum.
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source: tunedcitynet

Aernoudt Jacobs, born in 1968, lives and works as a composer and sound artist in Brussels. Field recordings play a significant role in many of his installations – sounds that are separated from their original context and reworked to create new relationships and contexts. Perceptive phenomena and cognitive processing of sounds often take centre stage.
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source: tmrxorg
Aernoudt Jacobs is a Belgian artist working primarily with the medium of sound. His work is both phenomenological and empirical. It has its origins in acoustic and technological research and investigates how sounds can trigger sonic processes that will affect the observer’s scope of perception. His work focuses on a central question: how can the complexity, richness and stratification of our direct, daily environment be translated into something that can really be experienced. It has been presented in museums and at festivals including Bergen Art Museum (NO), Macba (ES), ISEA (GER), Singuhr Hoergalerie (GER), Netwerk (BE), NIMK (NL), STUK (BE), Vooruit (BE), Kaaitheater (BE), deSingel (BE), Le Bon Acceuil (FR), Lydgalleriet (NO), Tschumi Paviljoen (NL), Palais de Tokyo (FR) and Hermitage (RU).

Jacobs’ starting point is a fascination with sound in all its forms so it is not surprising that he sources his raw material in reality: making field recordings with a microphone and a recorder. His works are the result of research into the different aspects of these field recordings and the assimilation of the resulting material into new forms and new contexts. But for him the product of the field recordings is only a registration; the act, the memory and the context of the recording are even more interesting and provide further motivation for his research. His work hovers between micro and macro, inside and outside, fieldwork and studio, reality and fictionalization. In his installations he investigates correlations between sound, matter, space/location, perception and psychoacoustics. Perception is an important aspect in his work.

Perceiving music, sound and harmonies is an activity that is always linked to memory and this association is an ongoing preoccupation in much of Jacobs’ work. Influenced by psychoacoustic theories, he explores how perception can be influenced and how sound can be expressed physically, spatially and emotionally.

In addition to his artistic practice Jacobs co-directs with Christoph De Boeck OVERTOON, a platform and production facility for sound art based in Brussels, and teaches at the Audio Atelier at RITS, Erasmushogeschool, Brussels.
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source: tmrxorg
Aernoudt Jacobs’ (* 1968 leeft en werkt in Brussel) werk is tegelijk fenomenologisch en empirisch. Het ontstaat vanuit akoestisch onderzoek en gaat na hoe geluiden en fenomenen kunnen leiden tot geluidsprocessen die de aandacht en de ervaringswereld van de toeschouwer kunnen raken. Zijn werk focust op een centrale vraag: hoe kan de complexiteit, de rijkdom en de gelaagdheid van onze directe, alledaagse omgeving omgezet worden naar iets wat echt beleefd kan worden? Zijn werk is tentoongesteld geweest in musea en festivals zoals Bergen Art Museum (NO), Macba (ES), ISEA (GER), Singuhr Hoergalerie (GER), Netwerk (BE), NIMK (NL), Happy New Ears (BE), STUK (BE), Vooruit (BE), Kaaitheater (BE), deSingel (BE), Lydgalleriet (NO), Tschumi Paviljoen (NL), Palais de Tokyo (FR), Le Bon Acceuil (FR) and Hermitage (RU).

In het algemeen is Jacobs geboeid door klank, in om het even welke vorm. Dit verklaart hoe hij zijn materiaal uit de realiteit kan halen: met een microfoon en een opnametoestel maakt hij veldopnames. Zijn werken zijn het resultaat van een onderzoek van verschillende aspecten van veldopnames en van de wijze waarop zij geassimileerd kunnen worden in nieuwe vormen, nieuwe contexten. Voor hem zijn de feitelijke veldopnames slechts een registratie. De daad, de herinnering, de context van de opname zijn nog interessantere en bijkomende drijfveren voor dit onderzoek. Het resultaat van zijn werk bestaat als een soort interactie tussen micro en macro, binnen en buiten, veldwerk en studio, werkelijkheid en fictie. In zijn installatiewerk onderzoekt hij vooral de correlaties tussen klank, materie, ruimte/locatie, perceptie en psychoakoestiek.

Perceptie is een belangrijk aspect van zijn klankwerk. Muziek, geluid, harmonie waarnemen is een fysieke, emotionele en intellectuele activiteit die steeds verband houdt met persoonlijke herinneringen. Deze associatie kan als blijvend gegeven worden waargenomen in zijn werk. Met behulp van psychoakoestische theorieën onderzoekt hij hoe perceptie beïnvloed kan worden en hoe geluid fysiek, ruimtelijk en emotioneel kan worden uitgedrukt.