A Mechanized Wooden Sculpture Army Invades an Austrian Church

150 motorized sculptures (and the mechanical sounds they make) turn a high-ceilinged atrium into an industrial concert hall.

by Sami Emory

May 27, 2015, 4:45pm

All images courtesy of the artist

Zimoun : 150 prepared dc-motors, 270kg wood, 210m string wire, 2015 from ZIMOUN on Vimeo

Zimoun strikes yet again, unleashing an army of 150 motorized wooden sculptures (and the mechanical sounds they produce) into a high-ceilinged Austrian atrium. Housed in the chapel of the historic Klangraum Krems complex, the pieces in 150 prepared dc-motors, 270kg wood, 210m string wire rise and fall like miniature oil wells, symbolically reinstating the artist’s distinctive industrial materials in a smoothly representational gesture.

Zimoun explains his project to The Creators Project in greater detail, “Over a simple mechanical system the wooden laths are set in motion and randomly falling back to the floor. Each of the 150 elements are based on the same materials, but each of them is behaving and sounding individually. The sum of all those individual systems is generating rich textures in sound and motion, while the architecture of the church is reflecting and amplifying all the tiny sounds all over the space."

150 prepared dc-motors, 270kg wood, 210m string wire will be on display in the halls of the Klangraum Krems until July 26, 2015. Check out some stills of it in action below: