AN ENDLESS GOLDEN BRAID

Suspended from the top level of vienna’s Prospekthof (Semper Depot) , a 20 meter led-string spirals downwards. The string is divided into four segments – equal to the levels of the building. Each light-segment is connected only to one specific loudspeaker that is positioned on the corresponding level. Being intrinsically linked to each other, sound and the light travel through the space synchronised / simultaneously; they explore it together, seem to re-measure the room’s proportions, light it up and finally disappear, leaving back only shadows of resonating sound. Being fully lit, the golden braid seems to cut straight through the room and it feels as if the light enters from the outside. Accompanied by a noisy scream, all of sudden, there is a crack in the building where the light pours in.

The piece uses the led’s variating voltages as audio-input signals – these are transformed by several custom made software patches in Max-msp in realtime (live). Light becomes the main-force, it controls the dynamic structure of the piece. Thus it is the light-appearance, the -flashes and the various states and position of the light per se that shape this performance. Light produces music from a sound that originates from within itself. Being left in darkness otherwise, the space will be haunted by unpredictable eruptions of light & sound – never clear where, in what shape and in what extend it will appear next. The endless golden braid’s various state’s of appearances literally affect space and time. Here light controls the sound, not the other way around.

all images © David Visnjic