DSD-08AS - Tehran to...

2018 - kinetic sound installation

‘DSD-08AS – Tehran to...’ is an electromechanical sound installation combined with sounds from tape recorders.

Five modules - each consists of two solenoids, a metal rail, a metal ball and two tape recorders - are building a self triggering system where the metal ball is functions as conductor between the rail and the solenoids. The ball is closing the circuit and activating the tape recorder, at the same moment electricity is applied to the solenoid that is pushing in the ball back to the opposite side and thereby is cutting it self from the electric flow. This results in multiple loops with different time delays. This results in an interplay between the two solenoids multiple loops with different delays.

The resulting rhythm of solenoid bolts hitting metal balls starts shifting and recreates it self over and over again in endless possibilities. There are several factors influencing the sound beside the mechanical inaccuracy of the the solenoids - the friction of the balls on the rails, the sounds of the tape loops, the characteristic of the wall the installation is mounted on, the size of the space and the position of the spectators them self.

The sounds on the looped tapes played in this installation are recordings the artist made during his residency stay in Tehran / Iran in July 2017. Fragmented announcements of persons trying to sell tickets for buses in the four main bus stations of Tehran, shouted city names (Isfahan, Schiras, Maschhad,…) and other sounds typical for this bus stations in can be heard.

Like in my previous works I have been experimenting with unconventional ways of producing sound by using devices and tools made for a different purpose and devices that have become obsolete nowadays (Walkmans and Keyboards). In this installation, these objects become new devices to produce unpredictable results.

 

This installation is a version of ‘DSD-08AS’.

 

 

 

Idea, Concept and Realisation: Stefan Tiefengraber

Thanks to: Sabina Ahn, Michael Tiefengraber, Kunstuniversität Linz, bb15, Verena Mayrhofer;