Bzzz! The sound of electricity

Another work i discovered at the GAMERZ festival in Aix en Provence a few days ago. And just like yesterday‘s this one give sound a visual presence. So visual actually that artist Cécile Babiole defines her work as a ‘sound sculpture.’

Cécile Babiole, Bzzz! The sound of electricity, 2012. Photo : Luce Moreau – for M2F Créations

Bzzz! The sound of electricity brings us back to the pre-digital sound, to a time when electric energy was so raw and new, that it buzzed, sparkled and vibrated. The work renders the sound of electricity audible and spread it over the ambient space. Six frequency generators comprising basic electronic components allow the electrical current to be modulated so as to generate slightly amplified sound vibrations.

The soundscape is best experience when walking inside the sculpture, going from one sound to another, seeing how the cables and loudspeakers slightly vibrate as if the electrical current was waking them to an organic life. The sound wave generator itself is at the centre of the circular structure. It was amusing to see how male visitors felt entitled to turn the buttons to control the sound. I guess any artwork that uses electronics is now regarded as being automatically ‘interactive.’ But this piece wasn’t. Cécile Babiole did however use Bzzz! as an instrument for a performance she gave during the opening of the festival

By reinventing an obsolete low-tech sound wave generator in this all-digital age, Bzzz ! serves as a commentary on the history of technology and a tribute to unprocessed, unsampled analog sound : in a word, the raw sound of electricity.

Video showing the installation in action, along with a short interview with the artist (in french):

GAMERZ 08 – Cécile Babiole di Festival-GAMERZ

Cécile Babiole performing the ‘Bzzz! The sound of electricity’ sound sculpture at GAMERZ. Photo courtesy Benjamin Gaulon