A Marathon Of Audio-Kinetic Sculptures Brings Visitors On A Sensory Tour Of The Human Body

Showcasing four stellar pieces in the second-half of May, artist Herman Kolgen offers an overview of his practice.

May 16, 2014, 4:30pm

Images courtesy of the artist

Those familiar with Herman Kolgen’s impressive artworks already recognize his universe: hybrid technical languages and unique aesthetics that give life to mesmerizing “audio-kinetic” pieces. But for everyone else, especially those in London or in Montreal this month, the internationally renowned multimedia artist will showcase four pieces that will perfectly illustrate the extent of his artistry. Starting on this Sunday May 18th, as part of the Alpha-ville Live in London, Dust and Inject, two of his most fascinating audiovisual performances, will be presented as an UK premiere.

His work is first and foremost a deep audiovisual exploration into the particulate fibers that the artist offers up. Inspired by Dust Breeding (Elevage de Poussière), a famous photograph by legendary photographer Man Ray, Dust is a journey between harmony and chaos, where the scale of visual elements and the sonic intensity blur and erase all reference points. The viewer witnesses the effects of magnetism on the floating, pilling, and merging micro particles that end up creating highly complex and destabilizing imagery.

During his appearance in London, Kolgen will also present Inject, a flexible and modular hi-def audiovisual piece made up of multiple video and photo capture systems. As privileged observers, the audience take part in the neurosensory metamorphoses that a human body is subject to when submerged underwater for a long time. This massive liquid installation creates a pressure on the body that affects not only the skin but also the whole nervous system.

Kolgen will then be in Montreal to take part in the BIAN. On May 23rd, he will launch Eotone, an all-new interactive installation co-produced with David Letellier.

Letellier, AKA Kangding Ray, will debut his new album for the EM15 festival. This urban installation— which links four cities and two continents— is fueled by various local meteorological fluctuations. By capturing the strength and the direction of the winds blowing in Montreal and Quebec, Canada, for example, as well as Nantes and Rennes in France, the metallic monuments analyze and transform the captured data and into a symphonic ensemble in real-time.

Kolgen's participation in EM15 will be his grand finale for the month. Seismik, his most recent A/V performance, debuts on May 31th, offering a digital and dynamic representation of mother earth’s tectonic tendencies. The hybrid multisensory exploration that Kolgen confronts us with represents the visualization of seismic waves, frictional resistance, and inherent phenomenology of tremors. Employing various mediums and components, including internet relays, real time connections dispersed throughout the globe, and even the readings of ambient terrestrial and seismic frequencies, Kolgen offers a generative audiovisual experience at once captivating and destabilizing.