Klingen;Klang ii.

Klingen; klang II is an exploration of emergent material relationships in which sound is used as a way of experiencing and also becoming a part of the ongoing interplay of agencies within the piece. Contact microphones amplify the mild steel suspended from a Green Oak frame to generate/reveal resonant feedback loops as the material relationships within the sculpture emerge visually and sonically. 

The resonances of the metal are amplified until a feedback loop establishes itself. Once established, the resonant frequency you hear is under interference from other emerging frequencies through the contingent movement of the material as it is excited by the vibrational force of the sound. This, along with other stimuli from the environemnt causes the sound to modulate as a new resonance is established. It is within this threshold that the most interesting sonic phenomena reveal themselves.

The way in which you performatively engage with the sculpture, moving around it in the space, is important to the work as a listening experience. You may start to notice areas where the frequencies cancel each other out or new ones seem to reveal themselves as the sound starts to reveal the acoustics of the room itself. The sonic performance of the sculpture is something which emerges from the material relationships enacted within it. I visually include the hardware in the presentation as their agencies have equally distinct roles in that relationship.

I chose green Oak as the material to make a structural frame from as the material is irregular and in a state of flux. The water content of the wood changes over time causing it to move, twist and crack eventually coming to a somewhat stable state. The poetic nature of this process resonates with the way in which I am generating sound. Although it may not be as apparent as the metal vibrating before your eyes, the frame itself is also proceeding with its own dynamic changes but on a much longer and perhaps imperceptible time. 

The colouration of the frame is a material relationship that was revealed in processing the material and training at a specialist in oak framing. The Iron in the steel of the tools reacts with the tannins in the oak to produce the hue you see. I dissolved the steel fillings created from cutting the metal in the work to create a ferrous wash. This is a chemical reaction which exists within the two materials and the effect is distinct to the relationship of these pieces of oak and the steel I am using to create sound. 

References: 

Barad, Karen, Meeting the Universe Halfway: Quantum physics and the entanglement of matter and meaning, (Durham and London: Duke University Press, 2007).

Oliveros, Pauline, Deep Listening: A Composers Sound Practice, (New York: iUniverse, 2005).

Ingold, Tim, Lines: A Brief History, (Abingdon: Routledge, 2007).

Fast, Heidi, Leppänen ,Taru, and Tianen, Milla, ‘Vibration’, New Materialism<https://newmaterialism.eu/almanac/v/vibration.html> [accessed June 2020].

Erlmann,Veit, Reason and Resonance: A History of Modern Aurality (New York: Zone Books, 2014).

Eck, Cathy van, Between Air and Electricity: Microphones and Loudspeakers as Musical Instruments, (New York: Bloomsbury Academic, 2017).

DeLanda, Manuel, ‘The New Materiality’, Architectural Design, Volume 85. Issue 5 (2015), 16-21 <https://doi.org/10.1002/ad.1948>