150 prepared dc-motors, 270kg wood, 210m string wire

source: urdesignmag

Swiss installation artist Zimoun has unveiled a new site-specific installation based on 150 prepared dc-motors, 270kg wood, 210m string wire and hosted inside a beautiful old church in Klangraum Krems, Austria.

Over a simple mechanical system the wooden laths are set in motion and randomly falling back to the floor. Each of the 150 elements are based on the same materials, but each of them is behaving and sounding individually. The sum of all those individual systems is generating rich textures in sound and motion, while the architecture of the church is reflecting and amplifying all the tiny sounds all over the space.

Exhibited widely in Europe, Zimoun is best known for his construction of sonic sculptures, or ‘architecturally-minded platforms of sound’. Recently interviewed by Space magazine in Korea, Zimoun explained his thinking on installation art as follows: “What I call ‘sound architecture’ signifies a space of entrance, but also a sound composition that functions more like an organism, something that is not changing into something else over time, but rather is full of variations in its details, and potent in its sonic possibilities. It’s not about a beginning or end; it could even be endless. It’s not narrative. It’s not going somewhere, and not coming from anywhere – even if it is continuously changing in its microstructures. It is more about creating a situation and focusing on the vibrations happening at the current moment. It’s about creating a simple system, which then gains dynamism, becoming richer in its behavior. So in that sense, time is informing these ‘sonic architectures’ in a very different way than that of conventional musical composition.”
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
source: dezeen

The sounds of 150 mechanical seesaws striking the floor of a former church in Austria reverberate around its nave in this installation by Swiss artist Zimoun (+ movie).

Named after the materials used in its creation, Zimoun’s latest installation is titled: 150 prepared dc-motors, 270kg wood, 210m string wire.

The artist used the wood to build 150 simple seesaws, made from long batons that pivot vertically on short upright lengths.

Orientated in different directions, these are scattered around the nave and transepts of Klangraum Krems – a Gothic church converted into an events space in the Austrian town of Krems an der Donau.

Each seesaw incorporates a motor that powers a thin metal arm, which is attached to one end of the rocking wooden element by piece of wire.

When the motor is activated the arm flicks back, pulling the string taught and causing the end of the wood to strike the ground.

“Over a simple mechanical system the wooden laths are set in motion and randomly falling back to the floor,” said Zimoun.

All of the wooden assemblages move at different times, creating a discordant mixture of sounds that are amplified by the acoustics of the cavernous space.

“The sum of all those individual systems is generating rich textures in sound and motion, while the architecture of the church is reflecting and amplifying all the tiny sounds all over the space,” Zimoun said.

The installation runs until 26 July 2015 and builds on Zimoun’s previous sound-based installation, in which 250 wooden poles hung from the ceiling of a warehouse randomly pummelled the floor.

Zimoun’s other work with motors has included three installations made up of cardboard boxes, which the mechanical components added jostling and spinning motions to.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
source: thelocalat
One hundred and fifty mechanical seesaws have been installed in a former church in Austria, in a work of art by Swiss artist Zimoun.

The seesaws are made from long batons that pivot vertically on short upright lengths – making a discordant, rhythmic sound that echoes around the church as they strike the floor. Each seesaw has a motor that powers a thin metal arm.

They are scattered around the nave and transepts of Klangraum Krems – a Gothic church which has been converted into an arts space in the town of Krems an der Donau (Lower Austria).

“The sum of all those individual systems is generating rich textures in sound and motion, while the architecture of the church is reflecting and amplifying all the tiny sounds all over the space,” Zimoun said.

Zimoun’s other work has included installations made up of mechanical cardboard boxes.