Device_art 5.015

September 24th  - October 4th, 2015
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The work reflects on the early days of cybernetic research and its influence on the art movements emerging from the period of 50/60s - minimalist/conceptual art. It deals with the concept of complex systems and uses feedback to represent a basic example of self-adaptive system i.e. artificial intelligence. The cube construction deliberately recalls the minimalist/conceptualist works of the 50/60s, such as the forms of Sol LeWitt, the father of conceptual art. This symbolically suggests the link between scientific ideas from the late 40s and their reflection in the global conscience of the 50/60s. The construction of the work resembles the paper tape transport on the first computer Colossus that the British code-breakers used to read encrypted German messages during World War II.

The cube is constructed out of thin steel tubes to provide a sturdy support for the magnetic tape loop. The magnetic tape is looped around wheels fixed to the cube construction with elastic bands to keep the angle and the tension of the tape. A system of play/record magnetic heads is connected to the cube construction. All of the connecting wires are hidden inside the steel tubes of the cube. The sound of the surrounding space and the visitors is broadcast and recorded randomly on different parts of the looped tape, making a constant feedback/delay loop. The recording of the space and the interactions with the space and the constant rewriting of the loop serve like a spatial amplifier, accentuaing the characteristics of the specific space of the performance and removing the articulated sounds, abstracting it until the only thing left is the sound of the space and how it resonates.

production: T.R.I.B.E. i MoTA – Museum of Transitory Art