EXHIBITION
27.1 ➤ 31.1, 12:00 ➤ 19:00
01.2, 12:00 ➤ 16:00
How can a visible object relate to the huge invisible spectrum?
In this installation, ever-present electromagnetic waves that fly through the air (imploding stars, far away lightning, communication tools used for submarines, planes, traffic, our phones etc) are picked up by an antenna and translated to small electromagnets that make the strings of a grand piano vibrate and sing.
By placing the piano on its side, the mechanism of the keys and hammers based on gravity loses its function. Here, the antenna and coils that electromagnetically push and pull the piano strings hundreds of times per second, give the piano a new function. The resulting sounds, like harmonic glissandi, are unachievable on a normal piano. The dynamics, rhythm and polyphony are determined by the electromagnetic waves present in the air. Through Software Defined Radio, the antenna is tuned to 32 interesting frequencies of the electromagnetic spectrum, which are converted back into electromagnetic vibrations via coils with copper windings.
This work was inspired by the thousands and thousands of waves passing through any point in the room you are in now, and secondly by the piano as an important instrument in serious music. After hearing the lightning strikes become audible while listening to classical music on the radio, Floris Vanhoof got interested in the omnipresence of electromagnetic waves.
Those waves are always there, constantly going through the air, walls, our bodies,… like another dimension.
In a time when all things are wirelessly connected, this installation invites you to stand still and listen to how a mechanical instrument can sound at the end of the information age.
Antenna was co-produced between KIKK, STUK, CCHA, KU Leuven, and Overtoon. Dieter Verbruggen, doctoral researcher at KU Leuven helped with software defined radio programming. Kris Delacourt helped with woodwork and initial signal routing. Dr Andrew McPherson, professor at Queen Mary University of London, provided custom made electromagnets.
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Floris Vanhoof (°1982, lives and works in Antwerp, Belgium) is interested in the hybrid forms of music, visual art, and film. His first projections -experimental films on 16 millimeter- evolved towards purely visual experiences which questioned our viewing patterns. Inspired by structural film and early electronic music, he builds installations, creates expanded cinema performances, and releases his music. Vanhoof likes to make his own instruments to explore the border between image, light, and sound. He often chooses analog technology because of the greater transparency of the workflow, and because of its rich dynamic range. Cut loose from all nostalgia, he experiments with what used to be considered “hightech” and searches for new ideas with old media. He translates sound to image and vice-versa by connecting different incompatible media, and is especially curious about the effects his work elicits in the viewer: How does our perception operate? Which new perspectives appear?