NEW BEDFORD — Due to popular demand, Massachusetts Design Art and Technology Institute (DATMA) has extended the majestic sculpture named “280 prepared dc-motors, cotton balls, cardboard boxes 13″ x 13″ x 13″, 2011/2021,” by Swiss sound-installation artist Zimoun through Oct. 10. As part of DATMA’s WATER 2021 season, this intricate sound sculpture will remain on view to the public for free at the UMass Dartmouth College of Visual and Performing Arts (CVPA) Star Store Swain Gallery in New Bedford.
Filling the space with an audible, hypnotic experience to be enjoyed inside the gallery or from the outside, the installation was created from a large number of cardboard boxes stacked throughout the space, each with a small dc motor swinging a cotton ball that drums against its surface, creating a multitude of identical noises with the buzzing, beating, and swivelling of hundreds of the same small motors running simultaneously against the boxes.
Zimoun often works with a large number of the same mechanical systems and is interested in sound as an architectonic element, namely sound to create space but also sound to inhabit a room and interact with it. The choice of materials relates to a general interest in simplicity and minimalism—simple, raw, unspectacular, and pure. Zimoun encourages viewers to reflect and wonder, to think and question the surroundings.
On Friday, September 24 at 11:30am, DATMA will host a virtual discussion with Zimoun and a live audience where Zimoun will discuss his creative process and invite questions from attendees for an open and interactive discussion about his work. Guests are invited to gather inside the Swain Gallery among Zimoun’s installation for the conversation.
About Zimoun
Zimoun is best known for his architecturally-minded, site-specific, immersive works. A self-taught artist from Switzerland, he combines raw, industrial objects with mechanical principles to create hypnotic and visually complex experiences. His work reconsiders the place technology holds in daily life, referencing the chaos of the modern day, while retaining the order of minimalism. Zimoun lives and works in Bern, Switzerland. His work has been presented internationally, most recently at the Hayward Gallery London; Museum of Contemporary Art MAC Santiago de Chile; Nam June Paik Art Museum Seoul; Art Museum Reina Sofia Madrid; and Ringling Museum of Art Florida. In addition to creating sound installation compositions, Zimoun also develops purely acoustic works and is the co-founder of the label Leerraum. Learn more at zimoun.net and @studiozimoun
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