$1’s Worth
2016
3 channel sound installation synchronized with a video & 3 respectively looped videos
Speakers, monitors, drawings, acoustic foams
Dimensions variable
In this work, I focus especially on one particular characteristic of sound, its non-materiality. In an attempt to materialize sound, concrete units of measurement—namely, length, height, and width—are applied when transforming it. I purchased various pop songs from an online music store for $1.29 per song, and substituted the above-mentioned units for the sound file’s time, pitch, and frequency range. These substitutions were done not according to the scientific standards of acoustical studies, but rather, according to commonly used terms by which laypeople understand and describe everyday objects. I then accordingly reduced each song’s time, pitch, and frequency range, creating three new versions respective to each dimension, with each version worth one dollar.
Three speakers assigned to time, pitch, and frequency cycle through the versions of every song, and accompanying tutorial videos (yet vague tutorial) demonstrate how each sound is sculpted to its final form.
Sound cannot be seen or touched; thus, it is regarded as non-indexical, and it is difficult to discuss and confirm its lasting existence in terms of visual or tactile perception. This work exhibits the process of materializing sound as a medium by means of embodied physical measurements.
The motivation for this work is based on my experience over the years in dealing with sound as a primary material and subject. Each time I attempt to convey how sound occupies physical space and how its apparent non-materiality can act physically on the world, I instead experience my own inability to communicate within an ocularcentric art system. From this, I have created a work in the form of an ironic tutorial attempting to establish temporal common sense on the material properties of sound.
(KR)
2016
3 channel sound installation synchronized with a video & 3 respectively looped videos
Speakers, monitors, drawings, acoustic foams
Dimensions variable
In this work, I focus especially on one particular characteristic of sound, its non-materiality. In an attempt to materialize sound, concrete units of measurement—namely, length, height, and width—are applied when transforming it. I purchased various pop songs from an online music store for $1.29 per song, and substituted the above-mentioned units for the sound file’s time, pitch, and frequency range. These substitutions were done not according to the scientific standards of acoustical studies, but rather, according to commonly used terms by which laypeople understand and describe everyday objects. I then accordingly reduced each song’s time, pitch, and frequency range, creating three new versions respective to each dimension, with each version worth one dollar.
Three speakers assigned to time, pitch, and frequency cycle through the versions of every song, and accompanying tutorial videos (yet vague tutorial) demonstrate how each sound is sculpted to its final form.
Sound cannot be seen or touched; thus, it is regarded as non-indexical, and it is difficult to discuss and confirm its lasting existence in terms of visual or tactile perception. This work exhibits the process of materializing sound as a medium by means of embodied physical measurements.
The motivation for this work is based on my experience over the years in dealing with sound as a primary material and subject. Each time I attempt to convey how sound occupies physical space and how its apparent non-materiality can act physically on the world, I instead experience my own inability to communicate within an ocularcentric art system. From this, I have created a work in the form of an ironic tutorial attempting to establish temporal common sense on the material properties of sound.
(KR)
#1-4 Installation View at Leeum: Samsung Museum of Art, Seoul (Photo by Hyo Jung Ahn)
#5 Video Still (by YoungEun Kim)