Brooklyn-based conceptual artist William Lamson is creating the newest installation for the IMA’s Efroymson Family Entrance Pavilion. This expansive sculptural and sound installation is composed of used communication towers and a series of audio components. The hybrid structure, which has been reconstructed so that the tower appears to fold in on itself, acts as an antenna to pick up a weather radio signal from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). The radio signal triggers vibrations within the tower, and rather than transmitting the broadcaster’s voice throughout the surrounding space, instead the sound of the vibrating tower as it is amplified through speakers mounted within the hollow legs of the structure proliferates.
Lamson first began experimenting with resonant sound during his recent Binaural / Nodar Artist Residency in Portugal. The artist attached rocks to a metal railing on a bridge that spanned a river. The rocks were then attached to bottles that floated in the river via long strings. When the bottles bobbed in the river, the rocks struck the railing, creating a low-frequency, ringing sound captured through microphones Lamson affixed to the metal.
Railing, rocks, string, and bottles in Nodar, Portugal.
The river.
Similarly, the artist often develops devices that harness the power inherent within the natural environment in his practice. In 2009 Lamson created a series of automatic drawing apparatuses that harness the power of wind or water. Lamson attached a drawing utensil to his inventions, which then created fine, detailed works determined by the surrounding weather conditions. His project for the IMA will similarly make apparent the unseen forces that surround us, as a radio signal (also linked with the weather) is made audible and tactile through the vibrations in the tower.
Lamson’s automatic drawing titled "Jan 28, 09 1130AM–230PM, Colonia Valdense, Uruguay"
Filed under: Art, Contemporary, Exhibitions
