unearth

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2022

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Various aggregates, rotating motors with custom fittings, instrument strings, mirror foil, Arduino Uno, electrical relay, contact mics and amplifiers

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unearth magnifies the minute through amplifying the visual and sonic qualities of fine particles of sand. Composed of finely divided rocks and minerals weathered over thousands and even millions of years, sand is a tiny but tangible trace of the Earth’s time.

 

Devised as a pseudo-scientific examination of these substrates, a series of evenly-spaced rotating motors of the installation twirl and twist from their fixed points when periodically activated by a microprocessor, creating drawings in the various aggregates through non-identical repeated gestures. These scribblings are magnified sonically through sounds picked up by contact microphones, channeled through amplifiers, making the micro movements more apparent to the viewer. These processes attempt to reveal, or unearth, the subtler qualities of the materials that might have been overlooked.

 

Close observation of the motors’ subtle interactions with the sand and the resulting soundscape seek to create a space for conscious listening and exploration of the miniscule.

 

Shown as part of Tampines 3065 at Our Tampines Hub from 28 May to 3 July 2022.

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Photos by Nedelina Zheleva.