Gordon Monahan: Theremin Pendulum

Year: 2008
46 x 23 cm
$2.00

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This poster coincided with a sound installation of the same name, held at the Owens Art Gallery from 24 October to 4 December 2009.

This installation ran automatically and was turned on and off from a motion sensor that was triggered when a viewer entered the gallery.

A theremin antenna made of flexible wire is mechanized so that it swings spastically as a chaotic pendulum. This causes the theremin to change pitch according to the swinging motion of the pendulum. The sound produced is multiplied by a delay system so that the viewer hears the sound of 8 theremins at the same time. This is mixed automatically by a computer mixing program (Max/MSP), and is broadcast into the gallery. Also attached to the antenna pendulum is an led light that swings with the antenna, causing shadows to be thrown in the darkened gallery that mirrors the frequency wave changes in the theremin.

Design by Robert Tombs.