M - O - T - O - R
Astali / Peirce - Romain Bertheau
Mobile Art Space #1

The installation builds upon the van as a closed system. It uses the motor as instrument and key protagonist

01. motor = ignited

02. microphone is place in front of the motor - sound of motor is played back in real time and amplified in the white cube space at the back of the van - sound is amplified by a large sound-system monolith type speaker

03. back and side doors are open

04. drone sound is played out of the car stereo system - drone is driven by the sound of the motor, that is fed through a set of resonators and further processed using synthesis. The sound oscillates between left and right door

05. levels of the motor, amplified motor, drone are mixed to blend together - sound circulates in, around and through the car
= following axis are thereby configured with the van as the center point: north/south axe between the motor and it’s amplified double - west/east axis as the drone moves from right to left door - combination forms a circular, pulsating sound that oscillates in and around the unit

06. location provides a further coordinate that plays into this layering of feedback systems and axial distribution. Back of Gesundbrunnen (*health spring in English) is notable for the following: train track line / industrial era steel bridge / large blank wall / car park / passage point / hang out zone for teenagers- this mix provides for further „crossroads“ that feed thematically and sonically into the work as the event progresses

09. temporal layer - day and night threshold - with onset of dark modification of the perception of the space/sound occurs, leading to a concomitant contraction and intensification of experience as the night progresses: what is left is a glaring white light coming from a glaring white cube with black monolith beaming sonic flatlines into the night

10. Intervention // The engine is cut - silence - a pre-recorded engine sound is diffused by the black monolith. Simultaneously a sound composition is launched still in the same monolith, long chords are diffused out of this surface, at a relatively low sound volume so that the listener attends a diffusion of the sound more than a projection. The structure of the work and the choice of the sound material follow as closely as possible the shape of the monolith.  The sound of the engine when present creates combinations of phasing, beats and auditory illusions that allow the listener to follow new lines of sound, a kind of mirage that unfolds over time.