Of Cybernetic Monoliths and Flowing Turbulences
The piece Of Cybernetic Monoliths and Flowing Turbulences explores specific phenomena of energy conversion and the logic of the organization of time and space in energy infrastructures. It investigates the sonic articulations inherent in those systems: the flowing, more-than-human forces of water, heat, wind, and steam, which are transformed into electricity and manifest themselves for instance as monolithic humming, turbulent flow, and systemic-regulatory pressure changes. At the same time, the composition also attempts to capture and express the peculiar architectural-spatial configurations of these infrastructural places. The piece is based on sensory experiences from various power plants, where also multiperspective field recordings were made using different microphone and sensor technologies. By generating, shaping, and structuring sounds with an analog modular synthesizer, the in-situ insights are further transformed through exploring possibilities for musical translation. Thus, the composition not only refers to the on-site soundscape perception, but also attempts to make internalized, embodied experiences tangible through the direct transformation of pure electricity into a sensorially perceptible, sonic existence through a musical instrument.
Christoph Brünggel
Composition
Christoph Brünggel is a transdisciplinary artist whose work spans electronic music, sound art, and visual art. He is interested in the fragility and instability, as well as in the ecology and complex entanglements of the human and non-human world. His artistic research is strongly rooted in fieldwork, using on-site experiences and sensory knowledge as catalysts for artistic work and reflection. Thus, he explores not only how embodied sensory knowledge of specific places informs transdisciplinary practice, but also how aesthetic approaches can open up modes of encountering the world. He strives to explore forms of artistic mediation of specific, often socially ignored or unwanted places, in order to raise awareness of their existence and phenomena. Brünggel is currently working on his PhD- project Turbulent Currents, which he is carrying out at the Centre for Artistic Research of the University of Music and Performing Arts Graz, in close collaboration with the Institute for Computer Music and Sound Technology (ICST) at the Zurich University of the Arts (ZHdK).