| Christina Kubisch |
The Royal Tree 2006 Exhibition
Oak at the former national monument at the Schlossplatz
Vierzehn Klänge und ein Baum (Fourteen Sounds and a Tree) Solar-controlled sound installation; Duration: permanent; Technical director: Ing. Manfred Fox, Berlin; 14 tweeters, 14 solar panels, 14 electronic control modules, electric cable. In collaboration with Berliner Schlossfreiheit e.V.
Oak at the former national monument at the Schlossplatz
Vierzehn Klänge und ein Baum (Fourteen Sounds and a Tree) Solar-controlled sound installation; Duration: permanent; Technical director: Ing. Manfred Fox, Berlin; 14 tweeters, 14 solar panels, 14 electronic control modules, electric cable. In collaboration with Berliner Schlossfreiheit e.V.
On the Schleusenbrücke at Schlossplatz — the bridge below the former
national monument to Kaiser Wilhelm, opposite the former GDR State Council
building and across from the former Palast der Republik — stands a large
oak. It is the only old tree in the vicinity.
Fastened up among its branches and leaves are fourteen bronze-coloured tweeters, a shining ornament in the greenery. On the roof of a nearby orange-coloured construction container are 14 solar panels whose surfaces are black. The electric energy generated by each of the solar cells is sent to one of the electronic control modules, each of which in turn is connected to one of the loudspeakers. The modules generate sounds that vary according to the light's intensity and are emitted by the tweeters in the tree. The sounds are in harmony with nature's temporal rhythms, dependent upon the hour of day or night, upon the weather. Sometimes they sound like birds, sometimes like insects, sometimes like cell phones. Light becomes audible; nature marries with technology. It is certainly possible that over the course of time, real birds and their electronic partners will enter into dialogue.
Located on a square still charged with history, the playful composition, reliant on nature's moods, offers a counterpoint to the ponderousness of monumental edifices and Prussian power. An artwork that needs no pedestal, doesn't weigh tons, and is as fragile as the equilibrium of nature itself.
Fastened up among its branches and leaves are fourteen bronze-coloured tweeters, a shining ornament in the greenery. On the roof of a nearby orange-coloured construction container are 14 solar panels whose surfaces are black. The electric energy generated by each of the solar cells is sent to one of the electronic control modules, each of which in turn is connected to one of the loudspeakers. The modules generate sounds that vary according to the light's intensity and are emitted by the tweeters in the tree. The sounds are in harmony with nature's temporal rhythms, dependent upon the hour of day or night, upon the weather. Sometimes they sound like birds, sometimes like insects, sometimes like cell phones. Light becomes audible; nature marries with technology. It is certainly possible that over the course of time, real birds and their electronic partners will enter into dialogue.
Located on a square still charged with history, the playful composition, reliant on nature's moods, offers a counterpoint to the ponderousness of monumental edifices and Prussian power. An artwork that needs no pedestal, doesn't weigh tons, and is as fragile as the equilibrium of nature itself.
