Fidelity || Freedom 






                                      

Kinetic Sound Sculputre
Material:
Carbon Steel Plate on Metal Stand, DC Motor 3D-printed Transmission Parts
w Threaded Trapezoidal Rods, Amplifier, Piezocheramic Element, Transducer Arduino,
Computer w Max/MSP, Beamer


Fidelity and freedom are the two aesthetic cornerstones and moral starting points within the field of translation. This binary pair outlines the fundamental translational dichotomy; should one as ”truthfully” and as literally as possible follow the original work, or rather see the translation as a necessary work on its own, in order to re-represent the overall tone, cadence and experience adapted to the target language and culture?

Within an ongoing framework of artistic research this artwork runs along two parallel trajectories. On the one hand it elaborates on the theoretical structures within the field of communication, language and semiology, ranging from the work of Ferdinand de Saussure, Vilém Flusser, Theodor W. Adorno, Walter Benjamin and Jacques Derrida. On the other it unpacks and applies these frameworks on the signal chain, concept and (the interaction of) the conceptual parts constituting the related artwork Fidelity || Freedom.



The artwork Fidelity || Freedom is a kinetic sound sculpture and installation, consisting on the one hand of the projection of prerecorded stylus pen input, made with Ehlins internationella stenografi - an over 100 year old shorthand system, invented by the author’s and artist’s great grandfather. On the other of a motorised 2m tall carbon steel plate, which through the use of an electro-acoustical feedback loop is put into varying degrees of resonance, prompting a constantly changing frequency and overtone response as a metallic vocalisation of the written input.

The notion of fidelity can in a wider sense be applied to the notion of transparency, the quality and character of the perceived experience, rather than to the level of linguistic correlation or signal accuracy. Hence it is a title allowing for several entry points, that go far deeper than its apparent binary format. But fidelity as concept of accuracy also influences our lives in an increasing amount of ways, as we more and more get immersed by translational algorithms and systems of surveillance in almost every tool at our disposal. With this as a driving motor this artwork tries to argue for the need to embrace ambiguity and the in-betweens in our relation to the world. 


Mark