Soundform No.3

 

INTERSECT BY LEXUS - Tokyo / Natura Machina

An ethereal experience of sound, light and space

Ethereal Cycles (A.k.a Soundform No.3) is a  minimalistic soundscape and kinetic art installation that transforms heat energy into sound and creates a poetically evolving composition in conjunction with natural forces.  The installation is based on an ongoing exploration of thermoacoustic phenomena using Rejke Tubes, which can convert thermal energy into air vibrations. The sculpture is the third in a series of explorations called  “soundforms”, first presented at Ars Electronica in 2019.

The artwork consists of a group of glass cylinders suspended from grid-like frames and arranged into an architectural abstraction of Tokyo’s urban environment. When electric heating wires, embedded inside the tubes,  begin to generate heat and light, surrounding air currents are drawn into the top and bottom of the tube, causing cycles of pressure to become sound, which then echo throughout the gallery.

Each section is driven sequentially under a programmed rhythmic cycle, producing a dynamic sensation of light and sound, moving along various pathways while being constantly attenuated under the influence of the surrounding air currents, temperature, as well as from the movement of visitors. Through this interaction, audiences become aware of the texture of the air, the presence of space, and the circulation of energy between and around the neatly lined frames in various senses.

“‘Ethereal Cycles’, an Installation Work that Feels ‘Nature’ in Space with Heat, Light, and Sound.”
— INTERSECT BY LEXUS – TOKYO

Natura Machina is an artist collective led by US-based artists, Mikhail Mansion and Kuan-Ju Wu, as well as Yasuaki Kakehi, an interactive media researcher and artist in Japan. The Soundform series, including this work, has won the Excellence Award in the Art Division of the 23rd Japan Media Arts Festival and has been exhibited at various exhibitions, including Ars Electronica Festival 2019 (Linz, Austria), Sense Island 2021 (Yokosuka, Kanagawa).

Natura Machina (Kuan Ju Wu, Yasuaki Kakehi, Mikhail Mansion)