2011, Erich Berger & Till Bovermann

The sound installation Vellum explores the sonic characteristics of the raw material vellum by means of artistic and scientific approaches. Vellum applies the fundamental principle of audio feedback to maintain a dynamic process in which the material articulates itself. The installation is build of several probes, ceiling mounted vellum loops, with contact microphones attached and closely positioned loudspeakers. The units share their formal structure but integrate different vellum probes and geometries. Each probe serves as an acoustic coupler between microphone and loudspeaker supporting the possibility for feedback. Intense spatial soundscapes consisting of a multitude of different feedbacks come into existence, break up, and fade away or abruptly change character. As the material is revealing its complex sonic vocabulary, Vellum becomes an open ended poetic process.

Due to its nature in feedback, the piece is highly sensible to the environment in which it is presented, and immediately reacts to the visitors movements. The installation can be set up with either 3 or 5 units, depending on available resources.

For more recent updates on this project, please read the news section on vellum.

Impressions

 

 

Related Work and Influences

• David Tudor: Rainforest IV
• Alvin Lucier: I am sitting in a room
• Robert Musil: Der Mann ohne Eigenschaften (The man without qualities)
• Jonas Löwgren & Erik Stolterman: Thoughtful Interaction Design
• Don Ihde: Listening and Voice, A Phenomenology of Sound, Ohio University Press Athens Ohio
• Till Bovermann & René Tünnermann: Auditory Augmentation
• Erich Berger: Tempest