D A Ayer
VBODOBV [sounding videos]:
Breath of Heaven
“Breath of Heaven” is a meditation on air and water. Our lives depend utterly on balance between these two transparent, fluid mediums; yet we perceive their boundary only indirectly, through change, and depending on which side we happen to inhabit.
Part of wikiGong.com’s ongoing “Song of New Abalonia” project, this video loop was created using a hydrophone, an underwater camera, and a tire pump. The thirty-five second loop cycles five times, with increasing reverb the only added effect other than mastering for video.
Alviso Wind Harp Test (V6)
“Alviso Wind Harp Test” documents the result of a four-year investigation into free-standing aeolian harp design. This, the "V6" harp of aluminum and zinc, uses bronze-wrapped strings “played” only by the wind. Originally intended for the soundpedro2022 live event, supply chain delays prevented a timely submission.
D A Ayer’s first aeolian harps appeared at soundpedro2018 under their wikiGong.com title, “Aeolus Woke”. Those six plastic harps were the second functioning versions (V2); even with the steady evening winds off Angels Gate, they required amplification. The V6 harp does not.
The South Bay town of Alviso, California often sees wind speeds of eight to fifteen miles per hour and higher. The single, continuous audio recording used for this video montage was made in the open air with a free-standing acoustic microphone. Wind speeds were between seven and twelve mph. Sound editing was limited to low-cut filtering to reduce wind noise followed by mastering for video.
More information VBODOBV 2022.
About the artist:
Sculptor, videographer, and electronic music composer Dave Ayer studied art and physics in the US and has been building electronic and virtual performance instruments since 1987. His audio oeuvre ranges from conventional songs and lyrics to experimental electronics and freestanding sound sculptures. He is currently designing and building aeolian harps.
Committed to the open-source and creative commons communities, Dave makes much of his work available online for others to reuse and remix. In this spirit, he launched the wikiGong.com web site in July 2009.
Reach him at gongmaster@wikigong.com.
Artist Location: Campbell, CA
Social Media: Artist Website | Artist Website
