Swarm is the latest development of a series of interactive Theremin-based sound sculptures (see ‘Ariel’, ‘Caliban’s Children’ and ‘Quint de Loup’). ‘Swarm’ is conceived to operate outdoors and is the first of the series to be solar-powered ~ the work is installed in the Werribee Mansion Park as part of the Helen Lermpriere Sculpture Award.
Swarm 2005
stainless steel, acrylic, audio electronics, steel rigging cable
Footprint = 8,000 cm x 8,000 cm x 3,500 cm
X10 units each 120 cm x 60 cm (diameter).
Be not afeared; the isle is full of noises, Sounds and sweet airs that give delight and hurt not. Sometimes a thousand twangling instruments Will hum about mine ears; and sometimes voices That, if I then had waked after long sleep, Will make me sleep again; and then, in dreaming, The clouds methought would open and show riches Ready to drop upon me, that, when I waked, I cried to dream again.
Caliban, in The Tempest, Shakespeare.
“Swarm” consists of a series of laser-cut acrylic sculptures that have a strong morphological relationship to microscopic marine forms, sharing symmetry with the structure of primitive Radiolaria, countless millions of which form the geological strata of this, the oldest continent.
Each object supports a solar-powered digital Theremin circuit, amplifier and speaker, and each structure acts as a physical former, supporting the antenna windings that are sensitive to bodily proximity. On approach the objects interact by responding acoustically, moreover, the entire installation operates as a ‘swarm’, the phenomenon of electromagnetic coupling producing clouds of audio ‘turbulence’ as visitors pass through the installation.
Philosophically, the work is a compact of many influences and references. I am drawn to an image of the Australian environment in which the terrain is crisscrossed by a network of voices, be these the ‘song lines’ of the traditional owners, the frenzy of insect and bird communication or the lacework of technological communication links upon which we are so dependant. “Swarm” attempts a sonic-mapping of voices lost in the æther, of song long settled in the dust and inscribed into geological strata.