This page is about our artwork “Voice of the stone”.
Japaese is here.
photo kenji kagawa
About “Voice of the stone”
“Voice of the stone” is a piece of artwork which plays a sound when someone touches the stones.
We made this piece with a local junior high student for the our exhibition at The Chigasaki City Museum of Art in 2016.The stones were chosen for their sensibility at a local shore. We held a workshop “How can I hear the stone’s voice?” and produced it together with electronic work and physical computing.
Exhibition: My surroundings | look with ears smell with eyes touch with nose listen with hands
Workshop photo Yoshiko Kawano
Why did you chose that stone?
Let’s try soldering.
This artwork uses the principle of the capacitive touch sensor. At first, we put copper foil tape on the back of the stone to accumulate electricity. The tone sounds from the stone by detecting a change in the quantity of electricity.
We made the tone of the stone from the wave pattern on the computer. We assigned a musical scale one by one of our impression of The student’s situation.
Background of the artwork
We work producing art objects and installations using electricity, light, and sound. We usually use electronic circuit and wood for the artwork, but we also have used the stone of nature for the first time.
Because… there are so many stones in the shore!
We wondered how does people choose answers from so much information making the artwork.
Today, we obtained much information and are able to connect through networks easily by improving of the information and communication technology. However, we think that we have to think about such things. What is our aim after gather information? How can we make good relationship with information? Will it be happiness?
the splendor of tactile
In a research for the artwork, we met a person who was able to find monkeys easily in a forest. He was familiar with the forest and found a monkey in the forest as easy as doing netsurf. We also checked the ability to hear the voice of the stone by Native Americans.
Technique called “the trucker” in pursuit of an animal and a person
Because we thought that it might be possible to find something in the forest in this information society in the same way. There was wonderful information that they got from tactile sensation.
Touching does not only confirm which things, at the same time, it tells me how people feel.
We feel that the sensitivity which people choose something is important. We call the ability to see something invisible as “sensibility”. Through “touching”, we wanted to create works that evoke sensitivity and empathy.
Go out from the museum
We were touched by the fact that a strange link was created between junior high school students and stones. They were able to intuitively distinguish their chosen stone from afar. They may be able to talk to the stone that their sensitivity chose. There were a lot of visitors at the museum who thought that the stones could actually sing and people who wanted to touch various things around us. Perhaps they are creating sounds and lights in their bodies and their brains.
Every piece of information around the world is waiting for sensitive people to found them.
Artwork
MATHRAX [Shozo Kuze, Mariko Sakamoto]
Collaborator
Junior high student of the art club [Chigasaki City Nishihama Junior High School, Shorin Junior High School]
Supporter
Chigasaki city museum of art
Workshop supporter
Megumi Yamaya, Kanta Kojima, Natsuki Mito
Photograph
Yoshiko Kawano [Workshop], Kenji Kagawa [Artwork]
Movie
Atsushi Kobayashi [shooting]
MATHRAX