WAVES

How does sound move? A long piece of rope generates 3D waves floating in space by the physical action of its movement: the rope which creates the visual waves also simultaneously creates the sound by cutting through the air, making up a single element.The installation is affected by those who watch it. When the audience moves around it they influence the movements of the rope, generating visual and acoustic sound waves from harmonic patterns to complex ones. Depending on how we may act in front of it, according to the number of observers and their movements, it will pass from a steady line without sound to chaotic shapes of irregular sounds (the more movement there is around the installation) through the different phases of sinusoidal waves and harmonic sounds; examining the action-reaction principle applied to sound and space.Due to its particular features, a space has a way of relating with sound, as sound is a series of compressions and decompressions which move through the air. The geometry of the space itself and the elements in it will influence the movements of the sound and finally our perception of it. This adds to the entire stationary system a chaos of infinite variables from the most minimal movement on our part, examining how we interpret our own position in a sonic landscape.But even though this could seem like a mere representation of what we can’t see by ourselves, beyond the persistence of vision, it connects with our most visceral side, combining the intangible beauty of the represented graphic with the brutality of the sound it produces.

About the artist:

Daniel Palacios creates machines that can scan and visualise the flow of visitors, or objects that communicate with their viewers by means of artificial intelligence. Viewed in terms of form alone, they are interactive artworks consisting of complexly functioning machinery with scarcely comprehensible software components. Beyond such technical aspects, however, the artist’s works are stirring inasmuch as they are concerned with extremely human, philosophical questions, about perception, memory, time and space. His works can be found in museums, festivals and art fairs of Europe, Asia and America, as well as edited in several specialized books and publications. Besides his artistic practice, he gives workshops and conferences on the combined use of technology and plastic arts.

DANIEL PALACIOS [ES]