Hannah Weinberger
Untitled, 2013
'Untitled’ (2013) consist of a number of large boulders, quarried from a rock face in Switzerland. Released from their natural environment by violent means they have been transformed into resonating speakers that eschew conventional understandings of audio equipment. Sound waves ricochet between magnets set in their hollow interiors. It remains unknown if stones, like people, have sonic memories.
It’s unknown if stones, like people, have sonic memories. Stones, like sculptures, and sometimes people, are silent, unless instigated.
Hannah Weinberger’s ‘Untitled’ (2013) is a series of large boulders, quarried from a rock face in Switzerland. Released from their natural environment by violent mechanical means, these stones have been transformed into resonating speakers that eschew conventional understandings of audio equipment. Not reduced to the functional role of amplifying, these speakers act as live instruments.
Sound waves ricochet between magnets set in each stone’s hollowed interior, coaxing out the stone’s latent timbres conjoined with Weinberger’s compositions. Discrete configurations of field recordings, pop song snippets, and found sound bytes dragged and dropped into dense, hypnotic ambient loops timed to a conventional 20th century song’s 4x4 meter stimulate each stone’s individual tactile qualities. The hard and rigid material of the stones contrasts with the compositions’ ambient tonal curves to engender an elaborated soundscape, inseparable from its sculptural presence.