December 6, 2007

Sound Sculptures

- by Magellan Egoyan



I was recently introduced by a friend to a new exhibition called CARP (for Cybernetic Art Research Project) that focuses on sound-enabled kinetic scultures. Several installations by Juria Yoshikawa are present that I shall get to in a moment, but also a charming installation involving a chorus of "dwarves" developed by Velazquez Bonetto and nnoiz papp.

Velazquez' installation on the 3rd floor of the gallery consists of nine dwarf-like figures - they are three prim objects and therefore are sculpties. Each face and figure is slightly different. When you walk through the figure, they begin to jump up and down and emit a looped sound. Together, these sounds form a "choir" and the result is stunning. Each emits a different sound, and many are low booming sounds, with a few higher pitch sounds interspersed, but they make a very beautiful chanting chorus when combined together.

On the 2nd floor, one can find several of Juria's kinetic sound sculptures. These are also activated by walking into or through them. Some are prim-based, such as "Mixed Opposites" depicted on the lift, while others are kinetic sculpties, such as "Hunter and Prey" shown on the right. The latter sculpture changes form continuously with an animal-like sinuosity, hence the title of the sculpture.




In addition to several other pieces within the gallery, there are also a number of eye-catching kinetic sculptures around the gallery building, many created by Josina Burgess. Josina is also the owner of the "Wearable Art" shop nearby, which seems to have some interesting items on sale.



The Gallery space itself is also a very interesting and beautiful build, consisting of several "four petaled" gallery floors that are transparent and float one above the other. This Gallery is worth a visit. The exhibition is announced from November 1st to December 31st, so there are only a few weeks left to see it. So make haste!

Diabolus Art Space (251, 128, 22)

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