LookingOutwards-10: Sound Art

The project I will be discussing is The Egg by Fedde ten Berge. This work is egg-shaped with textured ridges on the side which are used to to play vibrations and sound. It is a very hands-on type of installation/project, and despite its egg-shape, appears quite alien-like. It is made out of a block of wood. The artist likes to combine ceramic with another object of another material (left in their true natural form), which in this case is wood. I found this project interesting because when I think of sound art, I typically imagine technology and computers that an audience would not be so openly allowed to touch or fidget with. I was interested in how these slight ridges would produce sound, and was fascinated to find out that with wet hands, or a smooth surface like a mallet, The Egg will give off vibrations that translate to acoustic vibrations, which also makes it accessible/welcoming to those who are hard of hearing. Overall, I was most impressed with the shape of The Egg, because it is very obvious that it was likely a tedious process to hollow out a large block of wood, but keep it strong enough to hold its shell-like structure. The creator’s artistic sensibilities are manifested in the final form in many ways. When you look at the creator’s past works, they all have a few things in common. His projects are very touch-reliant, and prompt the user/audience to interact with it physically. Additionally, the artist utilizes how water and wet surfaces can produce an interesting vibration. On top of this, the artist seems to really enjoy working with natural materials, such as wood, and often tries to leave it in its most natural form without changing the medium too much.

http://www.feddetenberge.nl/het-ei