Playing the Building El Molino Compuesto

Playing the Building. El Molino Compuesto involves investigating the resonance frequencies of “El Molino.” To achieve this, Staalplaat Soundsystem designs a site-specific acoustic artwork that resonates within “El Molino” using a sound wave precisely matching the space’s length. This causes the chapel to literally vibrate, turning it into a soundboard through which visitors can both hear and feel the space. The artists have long been exploring the concept of creating a sound source powerful enough to vibrate a space, specifically designed to match its dimensions.
The 11-meterlong acoustic resonator vibrates the air using two vacuum cleaners. Since
the resonator’s length is half the room’s length, the lowest possible frequency it produces matches the length of the room. The sound wave then bounces back against the wall, amplifying itself and creating a standing wave. The resonator’s length is adjustable so that the artists can fine-tune the tone to perfectly match the space. Staalplaat Soundsystem aims to acoustically and visually unify the space, in keeping with the Fluxus history of Museo Vostell Malpartida, and as a reference to Wolf Vostell’s famous 1976 work Sinfonia Fluxus para 40 aspiradores.

Since its inception in 2000, Staalplaat Soundsystem has been producing sound art and performances that are usually installed or executed in non-museum spaces like industrial environment, urban public spaces or nature. Some examples are Station to Station with ten trains for Todaysart in CS The Hague, Yokomono-Pro with thirty tuk-tuk taxis during the
India Art Summit in New Dehli, and Composed Nature,a “sound forest” designed along with LOLA landscape architects consisting of thirty six trees equipped with electric motors. A milestone was Floating Islands, commissioned to the opening of the Dutch embassy in Berlin. This large floating sound and light installation was composed of fifty vacuum cleaners with
plastic bottles that were lit in a remarkable way. The continuation of these floating instruments is Plastic Souls, composed of plastic waste. The instruments are actually played by the sea itself. The energy of the wave blows air through the flutes. When presenting commissioned projects, they are always site-specific, related to space and circumstances. Staalplaat Soundsystem has presented its work at a large number of renowned international festivals, museums and galleries: Kiasma (Helsinki), Sónar (Barcelona), 798 South Gate space (Beijing),
DEAF (Rotterdam), Transmediale (Berlin), Ars Electronica (Linz), Todaysart (The Hague), MOCA (Taipei), Museum Weserburg (Bremen), Townhouse Gallery (Cairo), Steirischer Herbst (Graz), ZKM (Karlsruhe), Palais de Tokyo (Paris), Khoj International Artists (New Dehli ), Auditorium (Rome), Oerol (Terschelling), CMMAS (Morelia-Mexico), Sonic Acts at the Stedelijk
Museum (Amsterdam), etc.