DANCER VASE is a series of kinetic and performative sound objects made out of porcelain. The series consists of experiments based on one mother form inspired by human body. With the experiments I wanted to question how objects relate to our physical properties and how could a vase be made into a musical instrument – from a static container to a dynamic, performative object.
By casting and cutting the DANCER VASE form in various ways I created instruments each with a unique sound.
UDU is made by cutting a hole on the side of the vase. By tapping and covering the holes with fingers one can play melodies within a range of five notes.
THE BELLS were made by cutting the vase in two. The horizontally cut halfs make a bell like sound.
THE TONGUE is made by cutting slits on to the vase. It is played with small balls inside the vase and make a rattling, shaker type of sound.
THE VASE itself can be played by tapping on the hole or on the center of the bottom.
Animation showing effect of reducing resolution of the surface
DIGITAL EXPERIMENT #1: SHAKER
Experiment for laser cutting ceramic foil.
The design for the shaker is based on a 6-piece comb structure with 9 integrated porcelain balls.
73 x 69mm (50% of original model)
Variations of comb based structure for laser cutting
“Whirling dervishes perform the ritual dance of the Sufi sect in a showroom in Ankara. Practitioners believe the act of repeatedly spinning allows them to forget their earthly body and move closer to God.”Photograph by Sukri Celil Advan. – August 23rd, 2013
The beauty of ballet captured in a series of stunning long-exposure photographs.
Jesús Chapa-Malacara
Still from anime series Naruto Shippūden Episode 235 picturing dancing figure
From its examination in around 1602 by Galileo Galilei, the regular motion of pendulums was used for timekeeping, and was the world’s most accurate timekeeping technology until the 1930s.
Lissajous figure is the graph of a system of parametric equations which describe complex harmonic motion. This family of curves was investigated by Nathaniel Bowditch in 1815, and later in more detail by Jules Antoine Lissajous in 1857.
In the professional audio world, this method is used for realtime analysis of the phase relationship between the left and right channels of a stereo audio signal. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lissajous_curve
Max Ernst making Lissajous Figures 1942
The Dadaist artist Max Ernst painted Lissajous figures directly by swinging a punctured bucket of paint over a canvas.
SEA ORGAN
The Sea organ (Croatian: Morske orgulje) is an architectural object located in Zadar, Croatia and an experimental musical instrument, which plays music by way of sea waves and tubes located underneath a set of large marble steps. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sea_organ
SUIKINKUTSU
A suikinkutsu (水琴窟?, literally “water koto cave”) is a type of Japanese garden ornament and music device. It consists of an upside down buried pot with a hole at the top. Water drips through the hole at the top onto a small pool of water inside of the pot, creating a pleasant splashing sound that rings inside of the pot similar to a bell or a Japanese zither called koto. It is usually built next to a traditional Japanese stone basin called chōzubachi, part of a tsukubai for washing hands before the Japanese tea ceremony. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suikinkutsu
KAUSTIK
Water, sound, refraction of light, photographic paper. With his photographs in the series, „Kaustik“, Friedrich Gobbesso quarries the theoretically omnipresent aesthetic of water. By means of a sound-resource with different defined frequencies, the element is set in motion. The artist carries out the exposure directly through the water; the medium itself becomes the lens and projects its own structure onto the photographic paper. http://www.gobbesso.de/index.php?/projects/wasser/
RATTLE
Ancient Assyrian Terracotta Rattle Assyria, ca. 3200-1900 BCE
WIND CHIMES
UDU
The udu is a plosive aerophone (in this case implosive) and an idiophone of the Igbo of Nigeria. In the Igbo language, ùdù means ‘vessel’. Actually being a water jug with an additional hole, it was played by Igbo women for ceremonial uses.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Udu
GHATAM
The ghatam is one of the most ancient percussion instruments of South India. It is a clay pot with narrow mouth. The word ghaṭa in Sanskrit means “pot”.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ghatam
BOTIJA
The botija (botijuela; bunga) is a Caribbean musical instrument of the aerophone type. The botija is a potbellied earthenware jug or jar with two openings and was used in the early son sextetos in Cuba as a bass instrument. The botija was used to hold kerosene that was brought from Spain. The botijas were then utilized to hide money underground and were buried to prevent humidity from reaching the floors. The botijas were later dug up and used as musical instruments in the late nineteenth century in the Caribbean island of Cuba.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Botija
PERUVIAN CERAMIC TRUMPET, PANFLUTE & WATER WHISTLE
Pre Columbian America
XUN (Chinese Ocarina)
The xun is a globular, vessel flute from China. It is one of the oldest musical instruments in China and has been in use for approximately seven thousand years. The xun was initially made of baked clay or bone, and later of clay or ceramic.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xun_(instrument)
SOUND
(2:35-3:30) …i stuck to one shape more or less .. my things are always round and tall but there is always a closed feeling .. there is air trapped in there.. but there is also, when they are small there is sound, so that when you touch it you can hear the sound.
