Building Breath [2009, Ronald van der Meijs, 10:33]

Building Breath is a audio artwork made in 2009 consisting out of recordings with microphones and piezo’s of regular equipment inside a building such as central heating parts, water pipes, electricity equipment, web routers, computers, kitchen machines etc. The machines which we are surrounded with in buildings. I see it as the intestines of a building. These sounds are al edited by just slowing them down and put in a composition. By slowing them down drastically new sound appear which you will never hear when listening to it on normal speed. This work was exhibited at Kunstencentrum Signe, Heerlen, Netherlands.

Van der Meijs develops location based sound installations that show how we relate to nature in our completely designed technocratic society. These technical structures are a reflection on the location and its history. In his research into ‘ecological sound art’ the concept of acceptance plays a key role by creating a new dialogue between nature and technology, or nature versus culture.

By realizing site-specific art projects, a new relationship between audience, technology and nature is explored. Through exhibitions, interventions and sound performances world wide, alternative experiences are offered that allow us to rethink how we view and interact with nature, our culture and the planet. Unpredictable and slow natural processes control the mechanical installations and form a generative concept of sound, space and time. This process acts like a natural sequencer and generates a sound composition which is constantly changing as it draws a parallel to nature itself. The installation as well as the viewer have to accept the terms of these natural elements. In order to research this area between desire and acceptance he uses nature and the phenomena of growth and decay, both with specific qualities and inextricably linked to each other. It is part of an ongoing process in order to create a dialogue between the installation, the natural elements and the audience.

His recent sound performances with semi acoustic installations are based on the research of creating a new sonic dialogue with the sculptural acoustic installation by amplifying the sounds created by the grow and decay of the installation structures. The aim is to generate a wider experience of the installation as a generative object as it makes parallels between the immersive atmosphere of strongly amplified edited acoustic sounds and the slow changes of the complete identity and atmosphere. The acoustic instruments in his installations are often paired with digital synthesis techniques, in order to extend the instruments timbral capacities. Often based on minimalist structures, the musical soundscapes generated from the installation explores the inherent spectral properties of sound and their ability to transcend time and space.

www.ronaldvandermeijs.nl