ANIMAL NATURA - HUMAN NATURE
2011
Animal Natura - Human Nature
Sound Installation- sonic sculptures
Project description:
Sound is able to describe moods, landscapes and states of mind. The work reflects about human behaviour and its relationship with primal archetypes of conduct, such as animals. Fables are one example of the metaphor where animal actions obtain human character also mythological creatures in many cultures have obtained physical animal characteristics to portray their personality, their way of action and/or to exalt virtue. Often animals are referred as descriptive paragons of human conduct, in mass media, in common speech, etc.
The sound Installation is composed by 10 sonic sculptures, by the use of iconic sounds placed in humanoid heads, that symbolically represent 10 different kinds of mammals. An association is established where I question the context where human behaviour becomes analogical to an animal identification, in many levels: a political order of hierarchy, moods and expressions. The sculptures create an acoustic atmosphere the audience is able to transit. The public must reach to each piece closely in order to depict the listening of each audio phonic narrative made as a sound loop to ensure the continuous delivery of the whole installation ensemble.
The title Animal natura - human nature is referred to what is commonly called human nature, where raw actions are described as such. David Hume (1711-1776) in his Treatise about human nature recalls this as sentiment and instinct and, even reason as a manifestation of the instinctive nature of the human being. Thus, the analogy between the instinct in human behaviour and animals, in this case of mammal nature to a cultural paradigm.
The artwork concentrates on an aurality that speaks of its symbolic nature by emitting sound from the ears of each sculpture; they reproduce a sound loop of the most significant and recognized noises made by each animal. These sometimes referred as Meat noises as primal sounds that come from an organism, when merged with the human head condition the thought of the human mind and its relation to attitudes, instinct and sensibility, create a conceptual interdependence between the sculptural form and, the individual loops and enveloping sound environment. As Walter Benjamin in The work of Art in the age of Mechanical Reproduction (1936) states that sound art allows the audience to meet the original half way, therefore creating a reading in their mind to acquire complete sense.
Space Plan:
Dimensions:
Total space:
4.45x 3.20 x 2.20 mts.
175x 126 x 86.5 inches.
14.8x 10.65 x 7.3 feet.
Each piece of 10 sculptures:
Sculpture base:
Height : 1.00 mts =39.4 inches
Diameter: 0.2 mts = 7.9 inches
Sculpture's heads:
The Lion, Bear, Tiger, Fox, Dog, Panther, Mouse, Cat and Giraffe
Approx. 20 x 30 x 39 cmts. =7.9 x 12.4 x 15.4 inches.
The Rabbit
20 x 55 x 60 cmts. =7.9 x 19.6 x2 3.6 inches.
Sound loop duration:
Approx. 1'30'' each piece.
Production plans:
Technical Specifications:
20 speakers each one 32 ohms 0.2 W.
10 MP3 players
10 microSD cards.
Power charger: AC/DC Adapter,
Input AC110-240V,50-60 Hz/01A
Output DC 5V+-0.5V/100 mA +-50 mA
for 5 Pin USB.
Minimum space dimensions:
4.45x 3.20 x 2.20 mts.
175x 126 x 86.5 inches.
14.8x 10.65 x 7.3 feet.
Mounting:
Previous day for battery charging
half a day
Dismounting:
half a day (for packing purposes)