WHAT ARE THEY DOING?

2013
160x40x50 cm
Glass, wood, smartphone, speaker, microphone, fan, cables and converters
Two pieces

As a part of a collaboration between Van Abbemuseum and Dutch Art Institute me and nine other artists from the Dutch Art Institute have been working with the museum on the idea of “useful art” during the study year 2012-2013, in order to discuss and find ways to analyze the idea of use and how to make use of a museum with regards to the art.

My part of discussion was focused on interaction with the public. I tried to connect the Van Abbemuseum as a contemporary art institution to the urban space and the city of Eindhoven, where the museum is situated. My aim was to connect or swap places between the urban space and the museum through a sound portal.

This interactive sculpture is basically an audio portal between the museum and a shopping mall in the city of Eindhoven. Using two smartphones and other electric devices, the sculpture transmits the environmental sound from the museum to the sculpture situated in the shopping mall, and the sculpture in the shopping mall transmits the sounds from the shopping mall to the museum. One needs to listen through the glass mug stuck to the surface of the sculpture in order to hear the sound of the museum/city.

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Thanks to Muziek Gebouw Eindhoven for nesting the sculpture in the shopping mall.
You can read here all about the exhibition and the process of “Making Use”

above is the film of the interviews with the participants of the exhibition, made by Fraser Stewart.