Exhibition view, HfG Offenbach am Main. Photo and video credits: Manoel Altenau.

Immateriality of the Oscillation

Three piano strings - of varying lengths and strengths -  swing vertically at three different points in the room. Each connects a column with the ceiling. A disharmonic triad of sounds comes from the loudspeakers - a pulsating, alive, floating sound. It is the central question: how a sound can be transferred in a visible analog way, that can be spatially explored. The piano strings are each strung in an architectural construction of steel and concrete and are agitated via an electromagnetic feedback system and fed back via a pickup. This causes the strings to swing and different sounds can be digitized.

Like a monochord, the installation makes acoustic phenomena perceptible  - like the correlation between pitch and string length, the formation of overtones, as well as the resonance and swinging - and invites visitors to partake in an audiovisual site visit.

Via high-frequency LEDs, these oscillations are optically traced and their amplitudes are made visually visible. A single vibrating string appears as two, three or more standing waves in the room. If the frequency of the LED is synchronized with the string frequency, an optical illusion occurs - the string appears to be stationary at its end. Playing with different frequencies allows the artist to make various visual effects experienceable and to create an extraordinary musical atmosphere. Through observation at "immateriality of the oscillation 2.0" sound is visually set into scene and acoustical vibrations become an outstanding aesthetic experience for the observer.