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Sheffield seems like the perfect place for Noise_Objects insertions: its red bricks and the industrial look-a-like call for interventions.

These objects, in fact, are also a reflection about technology and industrialisation: before that, pollution and garbage almost did not exist, whereas today their presence is massive and invasive.

Writer Philip Dick named it Kipple, and the idea that one day all this amount of (personal, technical, affective, abandoned) material will get back to life – and make a takeover – might be a sort of collective hallucination or a recurring nightmare of some sensitive grandchild, still the doubt whether this is happening is floating over the global world.

There are two types of interactions in Noise_Objects, one is activated by solar panels, the other is powered by the human brain.
The first one uses the well known phenomenon of electricity, the second implements that of illusion. Both these phenomena are very common, widely used over the last two centuries, and also mysterious.

The first type of interaction is allusive: it triggers imaginations, and questions…
What is this object doing here?

What happens moving that mouse sitting at the corner of that brick wall?
Will the entire building rotate, or zoom?
Can I drag something?

There is a network slot coming out of that wall, does that mean the whole car park is online?
Is it distributing dhcp?
Anyone has a network cable?

Or… That dead tree has jack-in and jack-out ports, must be an audio card!
Most likely, it is possible to listen to the sound of the dead tree, but probably you can also import sound from your ipod…

Well, somebody is calling, who’s speaking?

The second type of interaction happens according to meteorological events, pragmatic issues, and the laws of electronics…
In other words, it’s just because some electrons keep running around, and matter is not as solid as it may seem, if you look at it at an atomic level.

Thus things happen when there is enough flow in the circuit.

The juxtaposition of these two levels of interactions may generate semantic clash: please read carefully the included instructions, do not administer noise_objects in conjunction with psychedelics and other psychotropic substances: reality may augment indefinitely.

DISCLAIMER These objects are distributed in the hope that they will be useful,
but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.

The author is not responsible of any hallucinations the Objects may generate.
If you loose contact with reality, please call an immortal.

(use the old land-line telephones distributed around the city)

Collect your old toys and any other interesting scrap material which stimulates your imagination and join us at Access Space.

We will build a series of sculptures made of recycled material, simple electronic components and basic micro circuits. These objects, powered by solar panels, will be animated by the diy electronic devices we will embed in their bodies.

You will learn about electronics, art, green energy and the creative use of public space.
On Sunday the Noise_Objects prepared will be inserted as landmarks in the urban space during a collective walk throughout the city trying to discover – and reinvent – Sheffield’s identity.

Thu 31 March 12 noon-3pm

Fri 1st April 2pm-4.30pm

Sat 2nd April 12noon-5pm

Sun 3rd April 2pm-5pm

Meet at Access Space 1.45pm -all welcome

I am currently artist in residence in Sheffield, at Access Space, an astonishing community project which embodies the shape of a hacklab and that of an art gallery, mixed with something else which is difficult to explain.

The idea is to build autonomous machines made of recycled material, a serie of assembled sculptures which will be animated by micro circuits and solar panels. 

Sheffield is an interesting place, its identity is not marked by spectacular landmarks or magnificent architecture, while its industrial history points to the worldwide known production of steel.

Since the Noise_Objects will be inserted in public space, the observation of urban territory is relevant part of this research. I try to absorb the taste of the city, its working class history, its bricks and the smell of metal, as well as the sound which, I imagine, used to reverberate over the the city, once upon a time commonly depicted dominated by a dark foggy cloud.

I am reading a book by writer Fred Pass about being brought up in the suburbs in the 40ies and 50ies, looking for an understanding of the peculiarity of this place.

The circuits will be made of solar panels, piezos, small speakers, leds, and a minimal amount of components trying to reach the widest possible result: give life – light and sound – to inert matter, and allow these new entities to speak about the city itself, capturing the attention of random passengers, birds and stray cats, or, otherwise,  structuring an ephemeral existence which can also be per se.

Abstract

“The technical object exists not only by virtue of its functioning in exterior devices (…) but by virtue of phenomena of which it is, itself, the centre. This is why it possesses a fecundity or non-saturation which grants it a progeny. …
Many abandoned technical objects are incomplete inventions which remain as an open-ended virtuality and could be taken up once more and given new life in another field according to the profound intention which informs them, that is, their technical essence.”
Gilbert Simondon. On the Mode of Existence of Technical Objects. 1958.

A parallel attitude is present in the practices which generate the field of ‘arte povera’ (trash) and that of noise music. If a noiser uses what is considered disturbance, error, accident, as musical elements, a painter can make art of scrap, garbage and obsolete technology: in both cases a fundamental transformation of the symbolic value of the source material is actuated. Both present a form of dissensus towards established systems of production and fruition, proposing the invention of a methodology of creation that wants to be personal, ethical and free.

Description

Noise_Objects is a series of sculptures made of recycled material, simple electronic components and micro circuits (using chip CMOS 4093, among others) which intertwine the hacker’s philosophy – diy and intolerance towards closed systems – with the disruptive conceptual provocation of an art piece.
Noise_Objects are self-standing creatures powered by solar panels, performing functions that trigger events and reactions belonging to the realm of symbolic logic and visionary thinking.

This work challenges the perception of the contemporary commodified environment – and the idea of technical object – through the creation of machines in the form of self-contained micro-entities performing irrational, aberrant behaviours which generate processes engendering a semantic clash.

References

Marchel Duchamp’s ready-made and ‘The Large Glass’.
Bruno Munari’s ‘Useless Machines.’
Qubais Reed Ghazala’s anti-theory and circuit bending.
Nicolas Collin’s hardware hacking.

Space

Noise_Objects like viral seeds intersect the city space disseminating fragments of an alien discourse. What’s the message they are trying to tell?

Illusion

Camouflage: everything seems normal, nothing attracts the passenger’s attention, although a distracted look may reveal that… something is slightly out of order!