Divining Meteorology
2011
100 ft former communications tower, speakers, resonators, NOAA radio, electric guitar pickups, contact microphones, computer.
35 x 11x 11 ft
In Divining Meteorology, a work commissioned in 2011 by the Indianapolis Museum of Art, I reanimated a defunct communications tower by transforming it into an instrument. Originally designed to endure the forces of nature, this 100-foot tower had been lying in a field in Missouri before being shipped to Brooklyn, where it was cut into three sections and re-engineered as if it had collapsed inside itself. The tower was then outfitted with an array of speakers, resonators and a NOAA weather radio receiver, allowing it to function as an instrument. In the week prior to the opening at the IMA, I played the tower each day, slowly moving two electric guitar pickups across the steel latticework, which initiated a series of physical and acoustic feedback loops revealing the internal resonances within the structure. In the final installation, the tower becomes a totemic presence as it emits a range of sounds from a quiet hum (the sound of the tower itself physically vibrating), to a booming organ-like crescendo, punctuated periodically by a disembodied voice of the live NOAA weather radio reporting air temperatures, wind speeds and cloud coverage.
Divining Meteorology
2011
100 ft former communications tower, speakers, resonators, NOAA radio, electric guitar pickups, contact microphones, computer.
35 x 11x 11 ft
In Divining Meteorology, a work commissioned in 2011 by the Indianapolis Museum of Art, I reanimated a defunct communications tower by transforming it into an instrument. Originally designed to endure the forces of nature, this 100-foot tower had been lying in a field in Missouri before being shipped to Brooklyn, where it was cut into three sections and re-engineered as if it had collapsed inside itself. The tower was then outfitted with an array of speakers, resonators and a NOAA weather radio receiver, allowing it to function as an instrument. In the week prior to the opening at the IMA, I played the tower each day, slowly moving two electric guitar pickups across the steel latticework, which initiated a series of physical and acoustic feedback loops revealing the internal resonances within the structure. In the final installation, the tower becomes a totemic presence as it emits a range of sounds from a quiet hum (the sound of the tower itself physically vibrating), to a booming organ-like crescendo, punctuated periodically by a disembodied voice of the live NOAA weather radio reporting air temperatures, wind speeds and cloud coverage.
