sculpt as a way of sound is a three part collaborative work by ceramic artist Anissa Kuhn, sound artist Maximilian Szakaly, and multimedia artist Janine Scheer-Erb. They center their narrative on the moment of touch as a coming-closer and creating-contact.

The works reference Hartmut Rosa's theory of resonance as a sociology of world relations. The artists use the sonification of objects as their gateway, transforming them into transmitters. The touching bodies of the visitors close the loop and temporarily become part of the installation.

"I mean by resonance a relationship with the world where one is open to being touched, perhaps even grasped, but also where one can unfold one's own voice and thereby reach something or someone in the world." - Hartmut Rosa

The exhibition was developed within the framework of the ÆSR Lab - Applied/Experimental Sound Research Laboratory. ÆSR Lab is a cooperative project of the University of Applied Arts Vienna (Center Focus Research) and the Artistic Research Center (ARC), part of the Institute for Composition, Electroacoustics, and Tonmeister Education (IKE) of the mdw - University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna, as well as the Phonogrammarchiv of the Austrian Academy of Sciences. ÆSR Lab is funded by the BMBWF and in cooperation with the Recovery and Resilience Facility (RRF) of the EU. The focus is on the critical examination of sound, both as an independent actor and as a connecting element. The works examine the complexity of sound and its role in different contexts, from individual experiences to social discourses.

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‍plead

The sculpture pleads the touching ones to adopt an introspective stance. Deep bass frequencies set the curved object into resonance, turning it into an actant. Openings on the sides invite the exploration of the sculpture’s uneven in-side. The vibrations transfer to the visitors, weaving them into the experience.

whisper into their ears

Those who plead are heard. Those who listen will know. The sculpture resembles a shell held to the ear. The whispered text is a poem, scribbled in the fleeting wakefulness between two sleeps. Words, strung together in an intimate setting like fragments forming a transparent image, reveal an answer.

triad

The deliberate touch of hands within the sculpture from the series "how I can feel again" is amplified by sound. When three hands meet, a triad completes, sonifying the moment of resonance as described by Rosa. Here, the narrative finds both its end and its beginning.