The Beaconsfield gallery is showcasing a work of Sonic Artist John Wynne whose Soundtrap IV is on exhibition. This is a multi-channel sound installation using 300 recycled hifi speakers, a pianola and a vacuum cleaner.
...shows what the sense of scale is like. Visitors are, I think, encouraged to walk within and around the soundfield. Certainly I did as you can see.
Buried within the sonic art sculpture is an old pianola. Fed by a vacuum hose. As demand from the pianola went up and down, the hose would snake and move slowly -- adding a kinetic element to an otherwise static (from a distance) display. The Pianola Reel has Franz Lehar's Ziegeunerliebe (Gypsy Love) but the score has been adapted so that only those notes most resonant in the space are played. The unused notes are filled back in. The mechanics of the pianola have been slowed down, so the effect was very reminiscent of Brian Eno's Music for Airports with added drones and some beautiful halo effects and beats as frequencies merge and swoop past each other.
The music is, incidentally adaptive, so it is extremely unlikely any events match up or loop around. Every moment is unique as far as the human listener is concerned.
The huge mass of old HiFi speakers are all arranged such that they obscure the pianola from the doors. There is something very sad and poignant about the image. For these loudspeakers, it may well be the last ever job they will be asked to perform. Still, a good way to go!
The Beaconsfield space is immense. Very good for sound art on this sort of scale. Very bright with reflective surfaces and ambient noises of traffic and trains outside plus the sound of footsteps and wooden boards creaking. Its not just an exploration of space and place, but also of time. The whole space has a very live and immediate feel, and yet lots of echoes of both recent (i.e. Millisecond) events and historical. The pianola reminds us of an austerity and a sombre overtone of the building's Victorian past -- a former East End "Ragged School" for deprived children.
This sound installation and sonic art sculpture by John Wynne at the Beaconsfield. 22 Newport Street. Vauxhall. London. runs until 18th October Tues Sun 11-5pm. Its free to visit a nice cafe downstairs and is a short hop from the London Eye. Some good pubs nearby.
Its worth sitting down and trying to see what speakers one can recognise. There are Tannoys, Wharfedales and I think some classics from HiFi's past nudging up against computer speakers and Sony plastic midi system speakers.
...shows what the sense of scale is like. Visitors are, I think, encouraged to walk within and around the soundfield. Certainly I did as you can see.
Buried within the sonic art sculpture is an old pianola. Fed by a vacuum hose. As demand from the pianola went up and down, the hose would snake and move slowly -- adding a kinetic element to an otherwise static (from a distance) display. The Pianola Reel has Franz Lehar's Ziegeunerliebe (Gypsy Love) but the score has been adapted so that only those notes most resonant in the space are played. The unused notes are filled back in. The mechanics of the pianola have been slowed down, so the effect was very reminiscent of Brian Eno's Music for Airports with added drones and some beautiful halo effects and beats as frequencies merge and swoop past each other.
The music is, incidentally adaptive, so it is extremely unlikely any events match up or loop around. Every moment is unique as far as the human listener is concerned.
The huge mass of old HiFi speakers are all arranged such that they obscure the pianola from the doors. There is something very sad and poignant about the image. For these loudspeakers, it may well be the last ever job they will be asked to perform. Still, a good way to go!
The Beaconsfield space is immense. Very good for sound art on this sort of scale. Very bright with reflective surfaces and ambient noises of traffic and trains outside plus the sound of footsteps and wooden boards creaking. Its not just an exploration of space and place, but also of time. The whole space has a very live and immediate feel, and yet lots of echoes of both recent (i.e. Millisecond) events and historical. The pianola reminds us of an austerity and a sombre overtone of the building's Victorian past -- a former East End "Ragged School" for deprived children.
This sound installation and sonic art sculpture by John Wynne at the Beaconsfield. 22 Newport Street. Vauxhall. London. runs until 18th October Tues Sun 11-5pm. Its free to visit a nice cafe downstairs and is a short hop from the London Eye. Some good pubs nearby.
Its worth sitting down and trying to see what speakers one can recognise. There are Tannoys, Wharfedales and I think some classics from HiFi's past nudging up against computer speakers and Sony plastic midi system speakers.
