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Tessel, kinetic sound installation

David Letellier + LAb[au]

2009

co-production: MediaRuimte + Roger Tator
with the financial support of Arcadi, Dicream and the Commission des Arts Numériques de la Communauté Française de Belgique.

Aluminium, motors, sound excitors, cables, Di-Bond

The installation involves the spectator in the perception of sound through a suspended and articulated topography. The installation is based on the inter-relation between sound, shape and movement driven by the force feedback of its motors.


The installation involves the spectator in the perception of sound using a suspended plane measuring 4 x 2 m and divided into forty triangles. Twelve of them are motorized, and eight are equipped with audio transducers that convert the surface into a sonic topography. The surface gradually changes shape altering our perception through the interplay of shape and movement. The artwork's name is derived from the term tessellation, which refers to the geometric subdivision of a surface into planar figures, also known as tiling. The term derives from the Latin word "tessella", which refers to the square tiles used in mosaics.

Tessellation has been used throughout history, from ancient to modern times, and ranges from two to n-dimensional configurations. It combines science and art through mathematics. The installation is based on the Pinwheel Pattern, a non-periodic tiling developed by mathematicians Charles Radin and John Conway. It enables the creation of an infinitely complex geometry based on a simple right-angled triangle. The pinwheel pattern is transformed, folded, and transposed into the third dimension.

Tessel is a collaboration between French composer and artist David Letellier, and LAb[au], co-produced by the galleries MediaRuimte (Brussels) and Roger Tator (Lyon), and realised with the financial support of Arcadi, Dicream and the Commission des Arts Numériques de la Communauté Française de Belgique.

2009 - Tessel, MediaRuimte, Brussels
2010 - Tessel, Musée du Moulage (Roger Tator), Lyon
2011 - Diffraction, group show TAG, the Hague
2011 - Nemo festival, studio Gael Haitin, Paris
2011 - Cimatics festival, Gare de Midi, Brussels
2011 - Scopitone festival, Chateau des Ducs, Nantes

archived installation by the Belgian Art studio LAb[au] , art&language art&architecture,  working on the relation between, conceptual art, digital art, konkrete kunst

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