BWV1010, 2011
Schleswig-Holstein-Haus Schwerin
Rotundan, Kalmar, Sweden
Installation
Dimensions variable
BWV1010, Installation, Schleswig-Holstein-Haus Schwerin, 2011
Installation
Dimensions variable
It takes exactly 28 notes to depict the first eight bars of the Prelude of Suite No. 4 for Cello Solo in E flat major by Johann Sebastian Bach (BWV1010) – each for every half-tone. A control system translates the music into a signal which then can be used to move the coil of a magnet mounted to a slat. Thus every note used is depicted by one of the wooden slats. Lastly the spring steel section fixed to the moving coil section of the magnet transcribes the particular note in its length and oscillation.
The installation’s aesthetic merely comes from the stark setup itself. But within the three-dimensional encryption of the original piece of music – from notes to signals to movement – lies the actual beauty of this installation: one can see the music.