KATJA SERBER
Thingumajig 0058 (work in progress)
– part of the installation The Refectory Snake Table
Model (1)
In collaboration with Sounding Bodies Research Group and others
Sounding exercise:
A microphone is placed into a fermenting soil. A zoom-recorder is recording the sound from the microphone and a multimeter detect activity in the soil. It is possible to listen to this in the earphones and also respond to it and vice versa.
About the soil:
The soil is from occult and historical places in Copenhagen. If any soil, sand, dust or similar is not found at these places, small scratches of stones, wood, bones etc. are made. These materials are then being crushed and mixed with some bag yard soil. The soil is moistened with tears and rainwater. Tears have a special chemical content that is good for the fermentation of the soil. In the future, air will be let into the soil and something will grow.
Places where the soil comes from so far:
The Crypt (c 1656-now) under Trinitatis Church. The Scaffold (c 1200-1780) at Nytorv / Gammeltorv in front of The Courthouse. The Blue Tower(state prison c 1400-1730) under Christiansborg. The Chopping Block/ The Quartz Milestone(c 1690-now) at Østre Alle. The Gold House(c 1668-now) in Rigensgade. The Stick house(military jail c 1741-1860) in Stokhusgade. The Children’s House + The Discipline-, Rasp- and Improvement House and The Penitentiary / Women’s Prison (c 1605-1928) at Christianshavn. And The Execution Place(c 1622-1772) at Amerikavej / Tøndergade.
Research recordings:
In the research process recordings have been made at some of the places where the soil has been taken, both with zoom-microphone and with Tesla Spirit Antenna made in Sounding Bodies Research Group. Recordings have also been made through lapel-microphone and contact-microphone in and on Thingumajig 0058, among other places in the Anechoic Chamber of Technical University of Denmark. And also when it has been exhibited at Medical Museion in Copenhagen and Technical Museum in Oslo. These recordings as well as upcoming recordings will somehow be processed.
Next step in the research:
The soil fermenting process is still under development where, for example, chemically produced tears will be made to water the soil. It is the intention to gather more soil from places in and outside Copenhagen. Getting sound from the soil is still under development as well. A special amplifier is being built to receive audio from the soil and among other instruments, the multimeter will be used to tune in on different aspects in the soil.
(1) The idea is that a glassblower should blow the glass in a little different shape than round. More like a condenser lens→ condensate → pass from air to liquid and vice versa = from one state to another. Something is perhaps evolving into something else on a higher magic level simultaneously with a kind of putrefaction, fermentation and growing. At the same time the whole object should associate to the witch’s crystal ball. A magnifying glass should be placed at the top of the glass. Different foot/bottom of the crystal ball will be made of porcelain and decorated with porcelain-paint.