Scanner
In-Between - Installation - 2023
presented as part of the exhibition Panorama 25
Installation
At the request of Chris Dercon, curator of Panorama 25, Scanner (Robin Rimbaud) is revisiting the installation he conceived as an artist-teacher at Le Fresnoy -- Studio national in the 2010-11 school year. Originally shown at Panorama 13, in 2011, this work now returns to its place in the building whose inaudible noises and respirations it reveals and intensifies, thereby underscoring the importance of architecture in this new edition of Panorama.
When Bernard Tschumi designed Le Fresnoy -- Studio national des arts contemporains, he conceived of a building without a centre, a new structure wrapped around another already existing development. What now exists is a sense of the in-between, a place between past and present, beginning and closing conversations between different times and places.
Visiting artists, guests and students have all spoken about the 'ghosts' resident in the building and one writer even went so far as to write a story inspired by this resonance. In-Between explores an experience that utilises all the mysterious sounds that reside in Le Fresnoy, from the drone of the air conditioning, the hum of electricity, the ductwork for heating and ventilation, as well as the movement of bodies within.
In his research Scanner believes he has discovered the source of this unsteady feeling resident inside Le Fresnoy. Sound frequencies have been known to cause all manner of surprising responses in recipients. In record- ing the ventilation system that snakes its way through the entire building he found low-level 17 Hz near- infrasonic tones registered throughout. The presence of these tones can lead to feelings of anxiety, uneasiness, sorrow, fear and pressure, and especially that feeling of a chill down the spine. In the past people have attributed these sensations to "ghosts", whereas in fact it could be an unconscious response to the physicality of sound.
Resonant frequencies at 18 Hz also have the ability to alter sight by making the eyeballs vibrate, thereby resulting in visions of grey abstract shapes.
In-Between should heighten public awareness both of the acoustic space around and of the very concept of the design itself, creating a work that is socially relevant to the gallery space. Scanner's projects continue to mine the idea of the hidden, the subtle traces left behind by people. In-Between will continue to raise questions about public space and what role sonic architecture plays in our response to any location.
Scanner
Scanner (British artist Robin Rimbaud) traverses the experimental terrain between sound and space connecting a bewilderingly diverse array of genres. Since 1991 he has been intensely active in sonic art, producing concerts, installations and recordings, the albums Mass Observation (1994), Delivery (1997), and An Ascent (2020), hailed by critics as innovative and inspirational works of contemporary electronic music.
To date he has scored 66 contemporary dance productions, including the hit musical comedy Kirikou & Karaba, Narnia for the London Royal Ballet, and the world's first virtual reality ballet, Nightfall, for the Dutch National Ballet.
More unusual projects have included designing sound for the Philips Wake-Up Light (2009), the re-opening of the Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam in 2012 and the Cisco telephone system used in offices around the world.
His work Salles des Departs is permanently installed in a working morgue in Paris whilst Vex, the residential house by Chance de Silva architects, featuring his permanent soundtrack, won the RIBA London Award 2018. Listening Forest, developed with artist Rafael Lozano Hemmer, is currently on display at Crystal Bridges Museum, USA until 2024. He has collaborated with Bryan Ferry, Wayne MacGregor, Mike Kelley, Rafael Lozano- Hemmer, Michael Nyman, Steve McQueen, Laurie Anderson and Hussein Chalayan, amongst many others.
