Sculptural Theatre [Helga de la Motte-Haber] Many materials might serve as stimuli for Robert Jacobsen's seemingly inexhaustible capacity for fantasy: found natural objects, everyday objects, technical devices, water, musical instruments, pictures. Collaged and yet melded into a whole, under Jacobsen's hand they become surrealistic entities. In looking for a personal stylistic element common to the disparate works, the concept of kinetic sculpture offers an initial clue. Over the last decade, Jacobsen has composed mobiles of very different kinds and sizes. But because they make sound, their form is not only temporally flexible, like typical mobiles — they also extend into space with a soft sound.
All of Jacobsen's sculptures are designed to involve the audience. He often uses sensors set off by movement and sound, so that the sculptures are playable by the viewer. When he groups his sculptures, they appear to be actors along with the visitors, creating a scenario in space. All are participants in a »sculptural theatre«, where sound in large part contributes to the performative impression, and usually and unpredictably is the strongest stimulus in that interplay of expectation and surprise that creates enjoyment. Even if this last is the artist's professed aim, the question of human-machine communication still arises. Something that is controlled acts as if it were autonomous or directed by a magical hand.