LUCID NOISE

LUCID NOISE, 2021 – 4k video, 2 channel audio, 10 min

In LUCID NOISE the relationship between sound and body emerges in a surreal light. An ear pulsates like a heart, animated by sound. A leaf trembles in sound waves at the sonic limit of a limp instrument string. Slow motion yells and howls from a party turn the leaf into flesh. In a sonic stroboscope of short mainstream pop samples, the leaf begins to change shape, moving in furious irritation.

LUCID NOISE as part of the solo show TRACES LED INTO YOUR BODY – exhibition view, Very Project Space, Berlin, 2021 (photo: Mathias Voelzke)

LUCID NOISE, 2021 – video stills

LUCID NOISE as part of the solo show TRACES LED INTO YOUR BODY – exhibition view, Very Project Space, Berlin, 2021 (photo: Mathias Voelzke)

The video LUCID NOISE explores the relationship between bodies and sounds.

While fluctuations in air pressure in a certain frequency range and of a certain intensity are normally audible as sound, in LUCID NOISE these fluctuations become visible in the movements of sensitive bodies.

Furthering the idea of vibrating bodies, free-floating leaves tremble here, while a human ear pulsates like a pumping heart. The physical tension of bodies, as a basic prerequisite for their receptivity, is associated with the sounds of instrument strings that are tuned too low, audio recordings that are played back too slowly or tightly tensioned instrument strings played repetitively.

A test tone, truncated music samples, as well as the use of black-screen fundamentally refer to the possibilities of vibrating/not vibrating, hearing/not hearing, seeing/not seeing.

LUCID NOISE pursues a dark fascination with sound's ability to manifest itself in bodies, like an invisible, ghostly force. The invisible and uncanny nature of sound is made tangible both directly and atmospherically through dark images and sounds. The use of close-up images and sounds and their precise synchronisation make the bodies in which sound manifests itself appear overly physical, intimate and emotive.

The audiovisual structure of LUCID NOISE is pervaded by tight and loose synchronicities, which are dropped time and again. Bodies vibrate with each other, sounds are coupled to the cut, movements to sounds. The bodies as well as the video itself behave like living membranes. Through the deliberately dynamic editing and the frequently recurring use of black screen, LUCID NOISE formally reflects sound's ability to change the shape of bodies.

By the end of LUCID NOISE, sound has had a concrete effect on the bodies' forms. Accompanied by a slow motion audio recording of a crowd whipping itself up into a frenzy – cheering, firecrackers and rattling cans – the leaf suddenly appears as a meaty, organ-like version of itself. With its movements synchronised to the sound of brutally short music samples, the leaf's identity changes. It swaps bodies, furiously turning around itself like an irritated compass needle.

In LUCID NOISE interactions between sounds and bodies appear ambiguous and surreal. Passing through all manner of bodies, sound becomes apparent as a force capable of using bodies as its medium. Sound reveals the boundaries of both bodies and identities to be inherently fluid.