Sound as vibration
Since a very long time now i approach sound in my work as an end product, namely something i record with my microphones and then use as a material that i mould and remould. This process then results into a composition, a live performance or an installation. In my current practice and research i investigate sound at its source, the moment it is shaped. In this case i approach sound as a physical phenomenon: a vibration, a wave, a variation in air pressure. ‘Shaping’ and ‘appearing’ are in this research two important concepts. How can i shape sound into a matter which manifests itself as a tangible, visible medium?
In a first phase i therefore worked together with the Museum of the History of Science at the Ghent University. Here we redid a series of historical sound probes from the 18th Century in which sound vibrations are made visible. At the end of this collaboration we carefully documented these probes on film.
In a second phase i used these acquired experiences to set-up new experiments in my atelier. Using mirrors, snares, sticks, smoke, dust, … i searched for new ways to make sound vibrations visible, tangible.
Here at Q-O2 i continue this phase of the research focusing more specific on the visual and ephemeral qualities of smoke, air and dust in relation to sound as a vibration.