- Installations, Kinetic, Sound art
Moving plants
Møstings Hus, ‘Nature Symphony’, Frederiksberg, Denmark. September – November 2022.
Mylar, spring steel, line, wood, mechanical components, motors, electronics, programming.
360 cm x 250 cm.
Assisted by Marina Siani.
Photos by Torben Eskerod.
Description
This mechanical sound installation, consists of 495 flower-like plants, made of steel wire and mylar. Nine of them are connected with motors that set them in oscillating motion of varying speeds. The motors are controlled by an electronic board which activates them at different times, according to a series of random functions.
As each of these nine plants moves, it pushes the neighboring plants, causing the motion to propagate through the whole construction. The result is an overall movement that resembles wind blowing on them. Paradoxically the movement comes from the plants themselves and it is them that evoke the wind…
About 'Nature Symphony'
The solo exhibition Nature Symphony is a total installation triggered by mechanical sound sculptures that create an unpredictable soundscape of the movements from wind, water, plants etc. through Møstings’ high-ceilinged rooms.
Koutsouris has been inspired by the movements and sounds of nature, and with this exhibition he examines human’s relationship with nature by questioning our increasing need for control in an otherwise uncontrollable world.
With Nature Symphony, Koutsouris invites us on a journey full of contrasts. While we might think that we are listening to the trickling of water in the stream or the rustling of leaves in the wind, we see something completely different. In the exhibition we meet constructions of wood, metal, plastic and electronics, all clearly man-made and industrial. Most of the works turn on and off automatically by mechanisms created by the artist, while others are activated interactively by the audience.
The works are created for Møstings, which in the 19th century was used as a summer residence, placed close to Frederiksberg’s cultivated nature. The exhibition connects the past and the present through a poetic narrative about civilization’s view on nature. The unique sounds of each work are carefully matched to the acoustics of the rooms, and together they form the sound of a wonderful landscape. By using low-tech mechanics to mimic nature, Koutsouris emphasizes that machines should be built to restore natural environments.