Vexation 1
Antoine Schmitt, 2000.
Computer, loudspeakers, behavioral algorithm. Not interactive.
Received an honorable mention in the “software art” section award of the transmediale.01 – international media art festival in Berlin (DE)
Vexation 1 is a non-interactive installation, designed to be videoprojected on a wall, or shown on a computer screen (CPU, keyboard and mouse hidden), in the context of an exhibition. Quality loudspeakers are required, the sound is spatialized. The duration is infinite, there is no end. It should exhibited just as if it was a painting that emits sound.
A ball freely wanders in a rectangular space, bouncing on the walls. Each bounce generates a percussive sound, to each wall corresponds one note. The successive bounces always play the same melody, but not always with the same tempo.
The movement of the ball between each percussion seems to obey many forces at the same time: freedom of movement, mandatory melody, physical bounces. The ball is actually programmed to be free, and, at the same time, to play the melody, all this inside a physical universe. The tension between the forces appears through its mysterious movements.
The title is drawn from a Satie piece for piano called Vexations, where as single melody has to be played 840 times in a row (about 20 hours)
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