Traps and Transmutations 2

 

University Gallery, University of Florida, Fall 2020
In, Of, From : Experiments in Sound

Traps and Transmutations, 2

Traps and Transmutations, 2 is a resonating stage composed through a cosmology of vibrating actants and actors. The traps come in the appearance of static forms, recording mechanisms and quantifiable technologies. The transmutations are catalyzed by all of the forces pushing away from, cutting, degrading and liberating these forms. Sound as a form of energy transfer, literally pushes through the forms: knives, cast soap, water balls, microphones cast in resin, and a desiccated banana are all cast into vibratory ecstasy through a composition of audio included the artist’s breath blowing up a balloon, the recording of the motor of a fan, and a series of feedback exercises with the stage. The most explicit symbol of the body, a 5 ft resonating glass vessel is filled with salt water and other organic detritus is animated by the artist’s voice chanting the phrase “concave, convex” as a sort of transubstantiatiatory ritual.

At what point is a vibrating sack of molecules legible as an object? What makes it so and what are the forces that act upon it to assist or degrade this legibility? Is the convex curve of a hip enough to signify a gender? At what point does that curve become a symbol? Can we chart the precise moment of categorization? What are the possibilities if we can’t?