Vibrations in Time, 2017
Photo: Basic Goran
Installation with a 2-channel sound piece
Opuntia Cactus Plants, 2 Speakers, MP3 Player, 3 LED Plant Lamps
For the exhibition ”Keine Zeit - Kunst aus Zürich“ (curated by Daniel Morgenthaler and Simon Maurer) at Helmhaus Zürich I made the second installation with the Opuntia Cactus plants. ”Vibrations in Time” is inspired by the slow growth of the cactus plant and its normally inaudible sounds from within the plant. It is an attempt to reach for the things that are not understandable with the mind but with the non-rational parts of our bodies. Through technology I connect the human and the non-human on a sonic level.
140 Cacti were exhibited in a wooden ”greenhouse” structure that was covered by plastic foil. The structure stands on wheels so I had the possibility to move the whole object for the two performances I did during the period of the exhibition. Three LED lamp plants with a red and blue light, a light spectrum that plants need for photosynthesis, were installed above the plants. The whole structure is a simulation of a greenhouse but in my work it is not functioning as a growth accelerating system but as a symbolic environment for those plants that are cultivated by me in the studio environment. I planted 1000 cactus seeds in 2016 and 2017 and made ceramic pots for each plant. Day by day a cacti collective started to grow and by now I have around 200 plants
The sound piece is made with sounds that I recorded directly from the plants and combined it with atmospheric synthesizer sounds that I created for this installation. The anorganic sounds (that were not coming from the plant itself) were inspired by what I heard in the recordings, like distortion, feedbacks, reverbs, and translated them into a abstract music piece. My goal was to create a soundscape that is connected to invisible sound vibrations and traces that the plants are leaving in time.
The work was on display at Helmhaus Zürich on 7th December 2017 till 18th February 2018.
Listen to the sound piece here: