Writing (suspend) at <rotor> Graz

In the past months, my new sound installation Writing (suspend) has been shown as part of an exhibition at gallery <rotor> in Graz. The piece is still on until 17 February, when the exhibition concludes. That day I will be present for an artist talk.

Writing (suspend) is a reconfiguration in a series of pieces, beginning with the 2011 Writing Machine. The current piece is conceived as a 24 channel installation with 48 suspended Petri dishes which emit small sounds that are continuously rewritten by an algorithm, using a set of spoken voices articulating endangered languages—languages that could be soon extinct, since the number of speakers is in decline. In an ever changing movement, the different languages are mixed based on their acoustic properties, highlighting commonalities among all human languages, none of which is likely to be semantically understood by the visitors, although occasionally familiar words appear. As the algorithm moves around the circle, its processing is visually and sonically perceivable, as the dishes are rotated by small motors.