mark been
Locatie: Projectruimte Zoete-broodjes - Witte de Withstraat 89 - Amsterdam

My Friends no.14

MARK BAIN    -    'UNCANNY VALLEY - close up from a distance'

3 microphones 3 spatial delays 3 amplifiers 3 horn speakers 1 dual subwoofer 1 sub amplifier 1 sub mic

This project uses sound to simply define the nature and the origin of outside/in reformatting the drone of ambient space outside the gallery to generate a heightened experience of this normality inside. Placing three microphones at each corner of the exterior the building, sound is captured in a spatial way in relation to the ‘valley’ of the surrounding architecture. Each of these three signals is fed directly to its own dedicated horn speaker placed in the center of the room. As actions occur outside these speakers correspond with a direct transcription.
The sound reflects off the walls in a spatial way corresponding directly with the placement of the microphones and the horns, this process is enhanced with the use of physical modeling delays which make for an uncanny nature to the space.

The uncanny (Ger. Das Unheimliche - "the opposite of what is familiar") is a Freudian concept of an instance where something can be familiar, yet foreign at the same time. It often creates cognitive dissonance within the experiencing subject due to the paradoxical nature of being attracted to, yet repulsed by an object at the same time. This cognitive dissonance often leads to an outright rejection of the object, as one would rather reject than rationalize.

Project Space Zoete-Broodjesis a platform for contemporary art that provides solo presentations of artists with an experimental approach to the space.
In the series My Fiends the artist is given the opportunity to work two weeks prior to the exhibition.