2018

Fabrik 45, Bonn (DE)

kinetic sound installation 1300cm x 1600cm x 600cm

The installation ‘locus motus’ comprises a kinetic staging. In sets of two, long steel tubes are aligned and hung horizontally, one pair after the other, on transmission belts. At one end, the tubes rest on a wooden structure. Driven by electric motors attached to the steel beams of the ceiling, they are made to rotate rhythmically. The friction of the rotating steel tubes on the wooden surface causes varying frequencies that produce a constantly changing composition of sounds.

The interior of Fabrik45 does not only house the installation but is also the linchpin to the work itself. Neither the work nor the space are perceivable without one another. The shapes of the functional architecture are on the one hand affirmed and on the other rejected by the installation’s coherent and systematic structure. In its resemblance to an industrial system, it seemingly refers tothe factory’s initial purpose. Its role, however, and its nonfunctional and non-materialistic product are in contradiction to its nostalgic aesthetics.

Each tube rotates according to its own periodic time system. Yet the predictable sequences transform into an erratic continuum of repetitions that is impossible to follow.

The entirety of the installation appears to engage in a timeless spectacle. In contrast to visual repetitions, the drastically changing soundscape reflects the installation’s transformation over time. A combination of rough noises, clear sounds, and minute friction sounds enter into a play that influences the auditory perception of the setting.The sound frequencies, the mechanically powered elements, together with the given interior suggest an altered spatial and temporal perception of the location. By a set of rhythmic and arrhythmic stimuli, the visitors’ sense of time is challenged, causing them to subjectively experience the constant process of change of the environment.