Der offene Schaltkreis is a sound installation by
Christoph Haag, Martin Rumori, Franziska Windisch
and Ludwig Zeller | ___________________________________
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Offener Schaltkreis (Open Circuit) is an interactive sound in-
stallation developed at the Academy of Media Arts, Cologne.
It mainly focuses on openness, which applies to all facets
such as optical appearance, the interface given to the user, the
technical tools being used and the collaborative style in which the
installation has been developed.
> At the Academy of Media Arts, art, technology, and science
> work together for mutual enhancement. Different ways of think-
> ing meet: theory encounters practical design, technological pro-
> grammes and artistic imagination combine. [*]
The interactive sound installation Offener Schaltkreis is actually
a result of such a meeting of two different programmes within the
KHM: Hybrid Space and OSFA.
The Hybrid Space was founded by Prof. Frans Vogelaar within
the media design department.
> A new interdisciplinary field of design, researching the trans-
> formations of architectural, urban/regional space of the emerging
> 'information age', explores the dynamic interaction of architec-
> ture/urbanism and the space of mass media and communication
> networks. It develops scenarios for the interplay of public urban
> and public media space. [*]
The OSFA series of workshops introduced by Martin Rumori is
connected to Klanglabor within the department of arts and media
studies. OSFA translates to 'open source for arts' and emphasizes
on all aspects for using open source technology for artistic pur-
poses.
Offener Schaltkreis is experienced by putting freely placeable
speaker-cylinders on a labyrinth created out of open copper tracks.
Since these tracks carry electrical audio signals, corresponding
sound layers become audible. This simple principle of operation
is derived from another project, created at about the same time
at KHM: Talking Cities Radio. While Talking Cities Radio
is an interface for the audible content of an exhibition, Offener
Schaltkreis aims at being a sound installation whose aesthetical
criteria were entirely developed collaboratively from scratch.
Model of a city
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In a city the acoustic impressions differ from place to place, just
like inhabitants and surroundings are different. Every neighbour-
hood has its characteristics and on the way through a city, not only
the visual, but also the acoustic environment is constantly changing.
Within this installation we wanted to strike emphasis on the pos-
sible simultaneity of inhomogeneous enviroments. The juxtaposi-
tioning of heterogeneous topoi through the simple arrangement of
audio sources, as the translation of what inhabitants of a city face
on a daily basis. A heterotopia, not in a strict foucaultian sense,
but as the coexistence and interference of places, in this case repre-
sented through audio sources. The experience of a urban environ-
ment gets downscaled and transferred into a room. An experience
which is not given, but dependent on the activity of the perceiver
and his will to explore his enviroment.
> They wander through the sectors of New Babylon seeking new
> experiences, as yet unknown ambiances. Without the passivity of
> tourists, but fully aware of the power they have to act upon the
> world, to transform it, recreate it. [*]
Through putting the speaker-cylinder on the tracks a concrete
place of sound is created, which uses the copper as a source for
its emission and therefore for its sensual manifestation. But this
concrete place of sensual manifestation is not connected to a special
place on the map. It is not static but in a permanent shift, just like
its audio source. Free positioning of the speaker-cylinder allows the
visitor to create her own soundscapes. Soundscapes, which open
themselves only through time and movement in space.
Transporting audio
------------------
The system of copper tracks on the ground derives from the
transportation networks of a city. This fact made it obvious from
the beginning, to work with sounds and noises of the city, includ-
ing their transformations and synthetic imitations. For every copper
track an individual piece of sound has been created from collected
sound material.
The installation is constantly playing. For every track a virtual
read head loops in various speeds through a given sound piece. Ev-
ery track includes four parts, which create, while playing all tracks
together, changing auditory scenes.
The visitor as an author
------------------------
A silent labyrinth created out of open copper trails on the floor
carries the electrical signals of a multichannel sound repository.
By putting freely placeable speaker-cylinders on them, the carried
sound layer becomes audible. Offener Schaltkreis reacts depending
on the manner in which the speaker-cylinders are used: if noth-
ing is moved, the sounds stay calm and soft, but if cylinders are
repositioned, the currently played sound material is modulated by
increasing speed, pitch and velocity.
If nothing happens during a few minutes, the installation starts
cooling down, back to the quietest, lowest level, where it remains
sleeping: just like every acoustic space sleeps while nobody is
there. As soon as a single cylinder is moved during this state, the
sounds of all speakers suddenly jump to a higher level of activity.
Thus, they give the impression of a social structure: a sensitive,
pulsating, constantly shifting body, built with sound
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Der offene Schaltkreis was set up @
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Lange Nacht der Museen, Köln.
make art 2007, Poitiers.
Fun with Software, Bristol.
Funware, Eindhoven.
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