‘Zimoun’
Zimoun is a Swiss sound artist that creates mostly site specific installations, he utilises motors to rotate everyday objects causing them to emit small sounds. Repeating the technique of rotating an object many times results in a grandiose sound comprised of lots of small sounds. Zimoun uses these sound making objects as an architectural material, shaping audio sculptures and environments, sometimes rooms that the subject can enter engulfing them in the sound. This is similar to Ryoji Ikeda’s installations in the way of surrounding the subject, however Zimoun takes a more physical/material approach both in method of creation and subject matter. This is evident in the naming of his works, naming them only by the materials used to create it.
Zimoun uses minimalistic methods to provoke the objects into audibility, these are objects that usually remain in relative silence when left un-interfered with. The constant movement or interaction with other materials unveils the audio quality of the material, subsequently Zimoun can saturate a large room with the sound of cardboard, or any material he chooses.
I am interested in the audio qualities produced by Zimoun’s works, it’s a constant, rich, textured sound. The listener is presented with a blanket of sound constructed with tiny tiny parts, and those details from the construction remain evident, one can recognise and tune in and out to singular sources. It might be advantageous for me to implement this idea of layering to my piece, it could result in a more textured and information rich sound. However, using multiple interactions with the object simultaneously could detract from the idea of documenting one object, one transient sound extended might conceptually be more compatible with my work. An idea I will definitely be taking into consideration from Zimoun’s works is the approach of ‘sound architecture’, using multiple sound making objects to sculpt sound in space. If I am to install my work in the garden of the gallery I might think of the approach as more of a ‘sound gardening’, using natural materials and turning them into sound making objects with the use of loudspeakers, the piece could be an auditory investigation into the dynamic of natural and man made material in a garden.