Oorwonde - a tactile experience

Laura Maes

The exposition focuses on Oorwonde, a specific practical experiment within the research project Sounding sound art. The work, which falls somewhere between a sound installation and an interactive performance, consists of specially constructed stainless steel operating table upon which visitors, or ‘patients’ are invited to undergo ‘aural surgery’. Next to the concept and construction of Oorwonde, related practices are discussed in terms of their use of subsonic sound in interactive works or installations. The exposition introduces contextual information in regard to the artist’s broader work on the question of what constitutes ‘sound art’, while it’s main purpose remains the description and analysis of this new sound work, as a piece of artistic research.

The core of Oorwonde is a stainless steel table of the type used in industrial kitchens and for post-mortem examinations. The reason for this material is twofold. The stainless steel evokes a cool and icy feeling and brings across the medical association, but besides an aesthetic benefit it also has a technical advantage. Stainless steel is very durable and does not rust. Notwithstanding the utilized steel is very thin (< 1 mm), it is possible to weld extensions onto it.

Underneath the table four bolds hold up two strips of steel that carry all the steering equipment: an 8-channel soundcard, a laptop, a controller for the electro-magnets, a controller for the speakers, a controller for the vibrator motor and an ARMmite microcontroller.

controller of the electromagnets

controller of the speakers

t h e t a b l e

C O N S T R U C T I O N

voltage for ARMmite microcontroller and FSRs

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