Creative_Application_Net

article by Filip Visnjic
07.11.2010

featured project:
Tessel, kinetic sound art installation
by David Letellier & LAb[au]

Tessel is a collaboration between David Letellier and LAb[au], a Brussels based transdisciplinary studio. The kinetic installation investigates the perception of sound and space, inspired by the notion of "tessellation", a term applied to the geometric subdivision of a surface into plane units.

Tessellation has been applied throughout history from ancient to modern times, from two to n-dimensional configurations and merges science and art through mathematics. Here Tessel is based on the 'pinwheel pattern', a non-periodic tiling coined by mathematicians Charles Radin and John Conway, which allows the creation of an infinitely complex geometry constructed with a simple single "seed": a right triangle. Here, the pinwheel pattern is transformed, folded and transposed to the third dimension.

The installation includes suspended topography of 4 x 2 m, subdivided into forty triangular mirrors (using the ' Pinwheel Tiling method). Twelve triangles are fitted with motors and eight triangles are equipped with audio transducers, which transform the surface into a dynamic sonic space. A dialogue between space and sound is created as the surface slowly modifies its shape, our perception of it altered through continuously changing light and sound reflection.