layers | frames

Die Ausstellung von_bis_* fand in mehreren Räumen einer 1910 erbauten Villa in der Saarbrücker Bismarckstraße statt, private Wohn- und Arbeitsräume, die von privater Hand für Ausstellungsprojekte zur Verfügung gestellt wurden.

Fragen, die mich beim Betreten der Räumlichkeiten beschäftigten, waren solche nach Schichten und Schichtungen – ganz real z.B. der Tapeten und übertragen der Leben von verschiedenen Menschen zu verschiedenen Zeiten an diesem Ort. Dadurch, dass Privaträume als Ausstellungsräume zu halböffentlichen Räumen werden, stellten sich mir auch Fragen nach Intimität, Privatheit und Öffentlichkeit.

Den Grundriss des Raums, in der sich die Installation layers | frames befand, bildete ein ungleichmäßiges Viereck. Der Raum hatte zwei hohe Fenster sowie insgesamt drei Türen, eine zum Treppenhaus und zwei zu kleinen Nebenräumen.

Im Raum habe ich 22 deckenhohe Objekte (mit Papier bezogene Holzrahmen) so geschichtet, dass drei Seiten des Raumes vollständig verdeckt waren, auch die Fenster und die Türen zu den Nebenräumen. Unsichtbar hinter den Objekten installierte Ventilatoren mit beweglichen Köpfen haben das Papier leicht in Bewegung versetzt und so einen ganz spezifischen Sound entstehen lassen.

Durch die Installation der Objekte ist ein neuer, den ursprünglichen weitgehend verbergender Raum mit einer besonderen (akustischen) Atmosphäre entstanden, ein neuer Innenraum und durch den an den Objekten sichtbaren und hörbaren Luftzug auch ein neuer Außenraum.

mirrors | noise

The sound installation mirrors | noise was developed for the studioblau, Saarländisches Künstlerhaus.

Between the first and second world wars on the south coast of England, the scientists experimented with huge concrete sound mirrors to acoustically identify approaching, possibly enemy ships and airplanes at an early stage. Radio telescope systems direct their parabolic mirrors into space to trace the Big Bang and the formation of the planets. Satellite dishes send data around the world.

Noise makes communication difficult. In communications engineering, noise is a source of interference. It can occur at the transmitter, receiver and on the transmission path. Noise is almost omnipresent. It occurs in many different forms in nature, in the operation of various devices and machines or in industrial production. Digitally generated, it is also used as a test signal.

Some people perceive noise individually or context-dependent as disturbing, others as pleasant. Noise is also said to have a medically proven effect on the human organism: It is said to have a calming and sleep-inducing effect, as well as a positive influence on memory.

In acoustics and technical signal processing, different colors of noise are distinguished. White noise, for example, contains all audible frequencies with a constantly randomly changing, but on average uniform sound pressure level. The signal therefore does not contain any specific information. With pink noise, the relationship between frequencies and sound pressure level is different, making it sound a little darker and less cutting. With red noise, also called brown noise, the ratio is different again, it appears quieter and even darker in sound. [translation of a text from the exhibition catalogue]

mirror | bunker

In the installation mirror | bunker, a bunker room is filled with the sound of bees buzzing - recordings of neighboring hives outside. The sound is emitted by a white object derived from sound mirrors in England, but cannot be completely located. Even from outside, the buzzing of bees can be heard softly, it accompanies the visitor, and becomes louder as one walks through a long, dark corridor towards the object in the main room.

Narrow, oppressive, dark, cold and humid, the interior of the bunker greatly contrasts with the surrounding exterior space. The visitor enters a completely different world in the middle of the park, shielded from the outside and its sounds.

mirror | bunker was an installation in a bunker right next to the Sonnenheide in the Franco-German Garden in Saarbrücken. The park opened in 1960 with a large garden show as a symbol of Franco-German friendship and international understanding – following the bloody wars that had been fought in the border region over the preceding 100 years. The park has since become landmarked.

The Sonnenheide is a gently curved, slightly terraced hollow, planted with heather. On one side there are beehives. The Sonnenheide is one of the quietest places in the Franco-German Garden. Right next to the Sonnenheide and almost hidden behind an ivy curtain is a bunker belonging to the former Westwall, an anti-tank command post of the Germans in the Second World War. Usually the bunker is not open to the public. Entering the bunker, one passes through a long narrow corridor into a larger room. The ceiling is only about 2.10 m high.

The room is filled with the humming of bees – sound recordings of the beehives on the Sonnenheide. The sound is emitted by a white object reminiscent of a sound mirror. You can already hear the bee sounds from the outside. Accompanying you the whole time, they become louder as you approach the white sound mirror while walking along the corridor.

Between World War I and World War II huge sound mirrors made of concrete were placed along the southern coast of England. The parabolic mirrors were designed to detect raiding aircraft and ships at an early stage from their sound. Radar as an early warning system did not yet exist at that time. The sound mirrors thus originally served a military purpose.

raum gefächert | absent present

The exhibition space comprises part of a former electric power transformation substation. The electrical installations of the substation no longer exist, apart from a few components, such as a fuse block in this particular room. Neither heating nor electricity is available, and the lighting system no longer functions. Electricity had to be brought into the space from the outside or through battery powered devices. The room I used for this work has no windows. I also narrowed the entrance to the room to give the impression of a nearly hidden or „secret room“.

The concrete panels placed opposite the entrance door in a fan-like arrangement face the visitor on entering the room. The panels quietly hang from the ceiling. They interact with a very subtle low-frequency sound pre-existing in the room, but not traceable to a certain sound source.

resonanzen II (beton, sound, raum)

resonanzen I & II Two rooms. One large, high and wide, with a concrete ceiling and broken windows. Walls with traces of the workshop that once existed there, paint residues, electrical installations, scratches. An uneven workshop floor. Sounds from the outside enter unfiltered. A second, much smaller room is directly adjacent and the sliding door is open. The smaller room has two levels, with an iron lattice staircase and an intermediate iron lattice ceiling. The glass and metal windows can be closed; more light enters when they are wide open. Here too, sounds from the outside can be heard.

resonanzen II In the large room, a thin, square concrete slab leans against the longest wall, restrained despite its size of around 245 cm per side. The size corresponds to that of the window on the short side of the room. Two transducers on the back of the slab transmit two different frequencies to the concrete, causing it to resonate. The slab vibrates noticeably when touched. The frequencies overlap, with interferences and slight pulsations possibly occurring. The sounds can be heard everywhere in the room, with varying intensity. They repeatedly and briefly combine with the outside noises. Close to the slab, different sound qualities can be heard at the surface – bass tones of different height and intensity. The sound lends a presence to the concrete slab. The sound emanating from the slab has an effect on the room and alters its atmosphere.

resonanzen I Walking from the first room through the open sliding door, you enter a different sound space and see seven smaller, again quadratic concrete panels, suspended from the iron lattice ceiling like an assembly. The seven surfaces form an open cube, and visually correspond to the steps of the staircase and to the design of the windows.

Each panel emits its own sound, close to the bass-level natural frequency. The harmony of the panels, whose vibration and resonance are also perceptible by touch, is focused at the center of this small space: the sound surrounds the panels like a sculpture, close and concentrated. Walking around the cube, you can acoustically perceive the slightly different frequencies, which are almost corporeal.

The frequencies can also be seen. The technical equipment is not hidden, so that you can see the transducers operate, breathing, as it were. With its cables and small circuit boards, the technical equipment itself appears like a miniature sculpture, and almost insect-like. The transducers operate at their limits, a conscious decision on my part, for the concrete is not easy to move and energy is required. Given their small size, however, the transducers attain precisely the vibration transmission that is required. The sound envelops the cube subtly and powerfully, with the different frequencies sounding together and filling the entire space.

On leaving the smaller room, you again cross a threshold, passing from one sound space to another. What sounds within and with the room is the concrete material, very different in both rooms.

The exhibition space belongs to a former voltage transformation substation. The electrical installations of the substation no longer exist. In many rooms the windows are broken, creating a strong connection between inside and outside; the sounds from the street and passing people are always to be heard. Electricity comes from the adjacent building.

resonanzen I (beton, sound, raum)

resonanzen I & II Two rooms. One large, high and wide, with a concrete ceiling and broken windows. Walls with traces of the workshop that once existed there, paint residues, electrical installations, scratches. An uneven workshop floor. Sounds from the outside enter unfiltered. A second, much smaller room is directly adjacent and the sliding door is open. The smaller room has two levels, with an iron lattice staircase and an intermediate iron lattice ceiling. The glass and metal windows can be closed; more light enters when they are wide open. Here too, sounds from the outside can be heard.

resonanzen II In the large room, a thin, square concrete slab leans against the longest wall, restrained despite its size of around 245 cm per side. The size corresponds to that of the window on the short side of the room. Two transducers on the back of the slab transmit two different frequencies to the concrete, causing it to resonate. The slab vibrates noticeably when touched. The frequencies overlap, with interferences and slight pulsations possibly occurring. The sounds can be heard everywhere in the room, with varying intensity. They repeatedly and briefly combine with the outside noises. Close to the slab, different sound qualities can be heard at the surface – bass tones of different height and intensity. The sound lends a presence to the concrete slab. The sound emanating from the slab has an effect on the room and alters its atmosphere.

resonanzen I Walking from the first room through the open sliding door, you enter a different sound space and see seven smaller, again quadratic concrete panels, suspended from the iron lattice ceiling like an assembly. The seven surfaces form an open cube, and visually correspond to the steps of the staircase and to the design of the windows.

Each panel emits its own sound, close to the bass-level natural frequency. The harmony of the panels, whose vibration and resonance are also perceptible by touch, is focused at the center of this small space: the sound surrounds the panels like a sculpture, close and concentrated. Walking around the cube, you can acoustically perceive the slightly different frequencies, which are almost corporeal.

The frequencies can also be seen. The technical equipment is not hidden, so that you can see the transducers operate, breathing, as it were. With its cables and small circuit boards, the technical equipment itself appears like a miniature sculpture, and almost insect-like. The transducers operate at their limits, a conscious decision on my part, for the concrete is not easy to move and energy is required. Given their small size, however, the transducers attain precisely the vibration transmission that is required. The sound envelops the cube subtly and powerfully, with the different frequencies sounding together and filling the entire space.

On leaving the smaller room, you again cross a threshold, passing from one sound space to another. What sounds within and with the room is the concrete material, very different in both rooms.

The exhibition space belongs to a former voltage transformation substation. The electrical installations of the substation no longer exist. In many rooms the windows are broken, creating a strong connection between inside and outside; the sounds from the street and passing people are always to be heard. Electricity comes from the adjacent building.

abstimmungsverhältnis

Concrete and sound. Concrete as a vibrating system. When a concrete surface is stimulated once, the natural frequency of the material can be measured. A continual supply of energy in the natural frequency range makes certain sounds especially audible as resonances of the material. Low-frequency waves can be felt as vibrations. Optimal tuning of the exciter and resonator is a prerequisite. Without constant review, the ratio may change over time. This can lead to inconsistencies and even silence. [From the catalogue text of the exhibition]

A larger number of concrete slabs are leaning against the wall. They form a row, a group, and belong together. Some slabs simply stand next to each other, while others overlap a bit, but they do not touch one another. At the same time they connect two exhibition spaces, creating a transition. Their oblong, upright dimensions resemble those of a human being. The slabs look similar, but each one is unique. Each slab accordingly has its individual, subtle, low-frequency sound close to the slab‘s natural frequency. The intermingling sounds of the concrete slabs create a subtle chorus in the room.

The title of the work, translatable as „ratio of co-ordination,“ not only derives from vibration engineering, but also alludes to processes occurring in various forms in any group formation. Each group consists of individuals who (must) undergo various processes of co-ordination in order to arrive at a balanced relationship.

in the middle

This constellation of four concrete slabs consisting of two pairs (two slabs set at a distance apart of approx. 22 cm), placed in the gallery space at a distance of approx. 120 cm from one another, serve to create their own „room“. Visitors could stand between the pairs of panels as well as walk around them.

Though expecting that standing exactly in the middle between the two pairs of slabs would create the most interesting acoustic experience, I found that no geometric center was optimal in this way - which meant "the 'truth' is not in the middle". Rather, it was important to move around and take both a close-up and a distant „view“ in order to grasp different aspects of the work, Its symmetrical construction notwithstanding.

series of works concrete, sound, space

During my master‘s studies I worked intensely with concrete and sound – how does concrete „sound“? Can something as rigid as concrete be made to vibrate and if so, under what conditions? To investigate such qualities of the material, I cast thin concrete slabs of various sizes and experimented with structure-borne sound and pure tones. Finally, I made the material itself produce sound. Placing the concrete panels as sculptures in different constellations in different spaces, I worked with the specific spatial conditions, acted on those spaces and made them interact with the sound(ing) sculptures.

The starting point of my research was the idea of interconnecting a particular sculptured material, concrete, which at first sight does not „sound,“ and sound so as to become inseparable from one other. The sculpture became no longer separable from its „original“ sound. The precondition is that each material with its particular shape have a specific sound. My approach is intuitive and based on modeling experiments conducted while handling and listening to the material. Sculptural constellations then arise in direct relation to the surrounding space.

To generate the sound, I work with self-manufactured analog tone generators emitting sinusoidal waves to transducers in order to transmit the vibrations to the concrete slabs. Between each two slabs is inserted an amplifier and a low pass filter. In selecting the frequencies, I follow only what I hear: frequencies occur at each concrete slab, especially in the lower frequency range (> 30 Hz and < 100 Hz), which are particularly well audible and almost corporeally perceptible. The sound, with all its subtlety, acquires a certain degree of fullness. For me, these are the sounds that are the „right“ and „specific“ ones for the given concrete slab. The „right“ sound is a finely tuned combination of frequency and pitch, volume and low-pass filter settings (suppression of overtones).

In physical terms, I work with approximations to the natural frequencies of the concrete slabs, identified exclusively by ear. Subsequent measurements and digital analyses of the sound confirm these identifications. If the concrete slabs are stimulated at their natural frequencies, their resonance will be the strongest and they become the loudest to the ear, at least theoretically up to the „resonance disaster“ point, after which additional energy input will cause fracturing. I utilize this phenomenon, Itself an issue in bridge or building construction, for example, in my approach to sound art.

The sound can be felt as a vibration when touching the concrete slabs, analogously to the swaying of a bridge. The vibrations vary across the surface. They can also be perceived at the edges as motions of varying intensity.

The concrete panels do not tell any story, but are as unfathomable as empty screens. They are surface and body at the same time, constellating into sculptures. Combining them with sound energetically charges the concrete, as it were. The concrete sculptures open the space for a variety of perceptions: at close range or from a distance, acoustically, visually or tactilely.

space exploration (bowling ball)

The project ARIS_Station Bocholt (ARIS stands for 'artistic research in sound') of the sound art festival SOUNDSEEING VI, a biennial series of events in the Münsterland region, involved as result of a two-week residency the development of temporary installations of sound works in the factory halls of the disused former textile factory Herding thus 'reanimating' them for the duration of the exhibition.

Fascinated by a vast factory floor of about 800 square meters punctuated by numerous pillars, I began exploring the space by tossing a bowling ball, stopped only when colliding with a wall or pillar. The rolling ball activated the particular sound of the room. In this way I explored the topography of the factory floor by means of sound. At the same time, the rolling of the bowling ball had an intensive sound effect on the room below, which also belonged to the exhibition.

For the exhibition I installed lashing straps between the pillars, corresponding in color and width to pre-existing markings on the floor of the hall. The lashing straps formed an open path along which visitors could carry out their own sound-based spatial exploration with the bowling ball.

sommerbrise

Inspired by the cries of seagulls from the nearby river Rhine that were clearly audible, surprisingly, in the old city part of Bonn and thus suggested a summer day at the sea, I constructed an installation with materials that could be found directly in front of the gallery: small white plastic bags (known as „tank-top plastic bags“ in Germany) from the little grocery store next door and black basalt cobblestones from the street.

A field of plastic bags on the floor, moved by the soft breeze of a fan [sommerbrise/summer breeze], shaped a wave with a specific subtle sound. The wave motion contrasted with the static field of cobblestones on the floor and the completely motionless and soundless tank-top bags on the wall.

Since July 2016, customers must pay for plastic bags in German stores as a measure for protecting the environment, especially the oceans.

blank (A4)

The exhibition Pracht + Herrlichkeit [glory + splendor, quoted from a newspaper article appearing when the building first opened] took place on the entire 9th floor of the Bonn Center building in the former German capital. The Bonn Center was built during 1968-1969 right across from the Federal Chancellery, near many other government institutions. The 16-story building included a luxury shopping center, a Steigenberger Hotel, restaurants, bars and doctors‘ offices. Politicians from Germany and all over the world passed through its doors. The glamour of the building‘s early days began to fade once Berlin became the new German capital. Since the late 1980s the Bonn Center has been used as an office building. In spring 2017 the building was demolished to make way for a new office and residential building.

My work blank (A4) references the building – to both its outside appearance (especially in a formal sense) and to the interior: my first impression on entering the building was that of an absence of history. The building had become faceless, there were almost no traces of all the people who had worked there over the past 47 years. Feeling a need to retrieve human traces, I produced 556 hand-modeled clay slabs, each the standard size of office paper (A4). I then arranged them on the floor, one for every month since the building opened.

exclusive (rollladenraum)

In the attic of a former farmhouse in Merten (Germany), where several artists now have their studios, I constructed a room from timber and plastic shutters. The shutters were installed both inside and outside the room, and there was no ceiling. On one side I cut a door to make the room accessible. The attic was completely darkened; only three fluorescent tubes lay on the floor inside. Between the shutters I placed six screens with videos of six different pairs of eyes (of myself and my flat mates from Senegal, Bulgaria and Germany) „peering“ inside the room through the small openings of the shutters. Not visible to the viewer at first glance, the eyes could be seen only if he or she moved very close to the shutters, when the distance between the viewer and the unknown person‘s eyes nearly vanished.

My inspiration was an experience I had often had: walking through the streets of the area‘s small towns and villages one evening, I became startled by unexpected noises. As I was passing a house, its shutters suddenly dropped shut. The view inside was blocked, and I wondered: Who is being „locked“ in or out? Who is part of the community, who is not?

When I visited the attic of Kunsthof Merten for the first time, I suddenly heard the voices of many children appearing to come from the attic. But they weren‘t – it was just the voices from the neighboring school yard right behind the Kunsthof. There was the question about inside and outside again.

balance I & II

Installation in the rooms of a former orphanage in Cologne (Germany). The orphanage was founded in 1917 and became the biggest such institution in Europe until it closed nearly 100 years later. The administration building has been landmarked as one of the few remaining buildings at the site. A few weeks before demolition of the building began, a temporary exhibition entitled Erinnerungsorte [places of remembrance] ran. The idea for the exhibition was to develop and show artistic positions reflecting (on) the history of the orphanage and its thousands of residents for whom the place meant many different things: its hundreds and thousands of young inhabitants had many different kinds of experiences, depending on when they were there: while children suffered greatly during dark pedagogical times, many others later found the orphanage to be a place of care, a home and an opportunity for education.

For my two-part installation I chose the former conference room (balance I) and the director‘s office (balance II), two very similar rooms separated only by a small hallway.

balance I is an installation with 48 rubber balls suspended from the ceiling by elastic braids and concerns balance and precarious situations, but also the idea of being held. It concerns discipline, the appearance of uniformity and structure, but also the possibility of disorder, derangement, falling and freedom. I carefully balanced the rubber balls loosely suspended by elastic braid loops so as to be held in place only by gravity and static friction. Visitors were allowed to cautiously move between the suspended balls (about 60 cm apart). If they touched a ball, it would fall down.

balance II is a sound installation: in an otherwise empty room the visitor would hear a single rubber ball falling down onto the floor at irregular intervals.

spannung I & II

Real-time projection of the videos in the exhibition Semesterabschlussausstellung.

In German, the word Spannung has many meanings: e.g. tension, strain, excitement, suspense, stress.

For spannung I I cast 6 objects (each about 25 cm x 25 cm x 4 cm) of screed and pigment, polished them, hung them with rubber bands on the studio wall and waited for them to fall down.

For hours I couldn‘t see anything happen. When finally a rubber band tore and the first object fell to the ground, it produced a very loud bang, breaking the hours of silence. The bang was followed by silence again, and I didn‘t know how long I would have to wait for the next drop and the next bang, but I was eager to hear and to see the event.

I documented the scenario with a long-running video recording. In a second scenario (spannung II) I suspended and observed another set of concrete objects as a block of six.

rencontres

For the exhibition GÖNNT EUCH REICHLICH the spacious rooms of Castle Alfter near Bonn (Germany) were at disposal. Constructed in 1721 for administrative purposes, the castle is now a landmarked building. We were allowed to use the rooms for an exhibition but not to attach anything to the walls or the ceiling or to alter the building in any way.

Fascinated by the lighting atmosphere in the room, I decided to have the room and its lighting enter a dialog among themselves, in order to broach the issues of surface and depth, reflection and duplication. Thin cracks ran throughout the ceiling, so I placed mirrors on the floor in order to bring this impression of fragility down to the ground. I leaned two large (60 cm x 220 cm) panels covered with wet clay against the wall. During the exhibition the clay dried and at first revealed very fine cracks like those on the ceiling that became deep cracks after a few days. Mirrors of the same size as the clay panels and placed opposite the windows turned the view to the outside back into the room. I „mirrored“ a light bulb suspended from the ceiling by installing another one in a door frame.

innerorts

The interventions were dealing with the question of the visibility of private life in a small town/in public space. The red and orange objects from the living and working area were placed in different places in public space (Alfter Ort) at different times of day. Then the situations were photographed and/or filmed. The photos, videos and objects were later returned to the local public in a group exhibition in the Haus der Alfterer Geschichte (November 2013).