
The small series SCHALLDOSE (soundbox) was created in the winter of 2021 during my residency at the Global Forest Kunstverein in St. Georgen in the Black Forest. The work is based on the idea of an acoustic equivalent to a postcard and draws inspiration from the medieval notion of imprisoning sounds in vessels. The composition, audible from a tin can equipped with a piezo loudspeaker hidden under a double bottom, incorporates field recordings from St. Georgen and its surrounding areas in winter, as well as the sounds of clocks and mechanical noises from historical music players at the German Phonomuseum.
The recordings were used both in their original and manipulated forms. The manipulations were achieved exclusively through analogue processes: by playing the sounds through various prepared tin can telephones, the original audio was filtered and then re-recorded. Materials used for constructing these “telephones” included nylon threads and wires of different types (copper, brass, aluminum). These designs resulted from extensive research into the properties of the materials and their effect on accentuating or attenuating specific frequency ranges.
SCHALLDOSE was shown at the Vogelklang Soundcamp in May 2022, Puzzelink_evidenz at Galerie M6 in Hamburg in August 2023, and it can be permanently seen at the Kunstverein Global Forest in St. Georgen.
https://global-forest.com/jahresgaben/jahresgabe-felix-mayer