Lilian Beidler
tors-tors 2010
sound installation with hairdryers, concrete sockets, bicycle wheels, wood, bottles, water
Two circular wooden boards with a diameter of 1.25 meters are attached on a bicycle wheel and stand side by side on a concrete socket.
On each wheel there are several glass bottles filled with different amounts of water. On a stand beside each board there is a
hairdryer that is directed to the bottles. The hairdryers move the wheels and at the same time get the bottles
sounding by blowing at them.
The rotary pace varies due to the hairdryers drive that delay the rhythmical and melodic patterns of the two circles against each
other.
There is no definite composition for the instrument: the number of bottles as well as their spacing and filling quantity of water may vary. Not all kind of bottles are suited well. The form of the bottleneck and the nature of its glass are decisive. Furthermore you need a quorum of bottles to give the hairdryers a corroding surface to move the circles.
For the first version I decided on the following compositional parameters: The amount of bottles is equal on both circles and they have the same distance from one another. So the rhythmical patterns on both circles are alike. The filling quantity of water - hence the pitches - though differs from one circle to the other. As for the pitches I was geared to the exhibition room. There are frequencies that resonate better than others and get reflected from the walls in a stronger way. This leads to the effect that a sound is not perceived at the place where it is generated but is localised at a different point in the room. If so you listen with your eyes closed you may not be sure which direction the actual sound comes from.
© Lilian Beidler 2012