Benjamin Tomasi

800/20

2008, sound/object installation, subwoofer, candle, metal plate, light sensor in a cardboard box, microprocessor, VCO.

The flickering of a candle shines through a split into a box made out of card board. Inside of this box a light sensor transfers the flickering of light into information to a microprocessor. This microprocessor translates those information into electrical Impulses, which then are transformed by a VCO into sound waves. Those sound waves are amplified through a Subwoofer. The air pressure generated by the subwoofer forces the candle to flicker again. The burning candle respectively the flame of the candle, seen as the beginning and the end or also as a position in between, is translating air pressure into movement. 

The installation 800/20 is a nearly closed circuit system. The candle's flame input to the system is not predictable, because of the open architecture of the system and the candle as the non controllable element. As a consequence the feedback generated by the system is always just between collapsing and gaining.