Der offene Schaltkreis is a sound installation by Christoph Haag, Martin Rumori, Franziska Windisch and Ludwig Zeller | ___________________________________ ____________ _______| | / _________________________________ ____ | __| |./ / | - |__ /________________________________________ |_______|_____/\ |\___________________________________________ | | | | | | | | Offener Schaltkreis (Open Circuit) is an interactive sound in- stallation developed at the Academy of Media Arts, Cologne. It mainly focuses on openness, which applies to all facets such as optical appearance, the interface given to the user, the technical tools being used and the collaborative style in which the installation has been developed. > At the Academy of Media Arts, art, technology, and science > work together for mutual enhancement. Different ways of think- > ing meet: theory encounters practical design, technological pro- > grammes and artistic imagination combine. [*] The interactive sound installation Offener Schaltkreis is actually a result of such a meeting of two different programmes within the KHM: Hybrid Space and OSFA. The Hybrid Space was founded by Prof. Frans Vogelaar within the media design department. > A new interdisciplinary field of design, researching the trans- > formations of architectural, urban/regional space of the emerging > 'information age', explores the dynamic interaction of architec- > ture/urbanism and the space of mass media and communication > networks. It develops scenarios for the interplay of public urban > and public media space. [*] The OSFA series of workshops introduced by Martin Rumori is connected to Klanglabor within the department of arts and media studies. OSFA translates to 'open source for arts' and emphasizes on all aspects for using open source technology for artistic pur- poses. Offener Schaltkreis is experienced by putting freely placeable speaker-cylinders on a labyrinth created out of open copper tracks. Since these tracks carry electrical audio signals, corresponding sound layers become audible. This simple principle of operation is derived from another project, created at about the same time at KHM: Talking Cities Radio. While Talking Cities Radio is an interface for the audible content of an exhibition, Offener Schaltkreis aims at being a sound installation whose aesthetical criteria were entirely developed collaboratively from scratch. Model of a city --------------- In a city the acoustic impressions differ from place to place, just like inhabitants and surroundings are different. Every neighbour- hood has its characteristics and on the way through a city, not only the visual, but also the acoustic environment is constantly changing. Within this installation we wanted to strike emphasis on the pos- sible simultaneity of inhomogeneous enviroments. The juxtaposi- tioning of heterogeneous topoi through the simple arrangement of audio sources, as the translation of what inhabitants of a city face on a daily basis. A heterotopia, not in a strict foucaultian sense, but as the coexistence and interference of places, in this case repre- sented through audio sources. The experience of a urban environ- ment gets downscaled and transferred into a room. An experience which is not given, but dependent on the activity of the perceiver and his will to explore his enviroment. > They wander through the sectors of New Babylon seeking new > experiences, as yet unknown ambiances. Without the passivity of > tourists, but fully aware of the power they have to act upon the > world, to transform it, recreate it. [*] Through putting the speaker-cylinder on the tracks a concrete place of sound is created, which uses the copper as a source for its emission and therefore for its sensual manifestation. But this concrete place of sensual manifestation is not connected to a special place on the map. It is not static but in a permanent shift, just like its audio source. Free positioning of the speaker-cylinder allows the visitor to create her own soundscapes. Soundscapes, which open themselves only through time and movement in space. Transporting audio ------------------ The system of copper tracks on the ground derives from the transportation networks of a city. This fact made it obvious from the beginning, to work with sounds and noises of the city, includ- ing their transformations and synthetic imitations. For every copper track an individual piece of sound has been created from collected sound material. The installation is constantly playing. For every track a virtual read head loops in various speeds through a given sound piece. Ev- ery track includes four parts, which create, while playing all tracks together, changing auditory scenes. The visitor as an author ------------------------ A silent labyrinth created out of open copper trails on the floor carries the electrical signals of a multichannel sound repository. By putting freely placeable speaker-cylinders on them, the carried sound layer becomes audible. Offener Schaltkreis reacts depending on the manner in which the speaker-cylinders are used: if noth- ing is moved, the sounds stay calm and soft, but if cylinders are repositioned, the currently played sound material is modulated by increasing speed, pitch and velocity. If nothing happens during a few minutes, the installation starts cooling down, back to the quietest, lowest level, where it remains sleeping: just like every acoustic space sleeps while nobody is there. As soon as a single cylinder is moved during this state, the sounds of all speakers suddenly jump to a higher level of activity. Thus, they give the impression of a social structure: a sensitive, pulsating, constantly shifting body, built with sound ____________________________________________________________________ Der offene Schaltkreis was set up @ ----------------------------------- Lange Nacht der Museen, Köln. make art 2007, Poitiers. Fun with Software, Bristol. Funware, Eindhoven. ____________________________________________________________________