Ray Lee, Siren at Ars Electronica: Goodbye Privacy, 2007
Ray Lee’s Siren is a remarkable work that possesses sculptural, performative, and musical dimensions. It begins with a sculptural installation-like array of low-tech contraptions consisting of a metal tripod on which is mounted a motorised arm with loudspeakers either end. In the middle of the arm is an electronic circuitboard that feeds each speaker with a monophonic drone. The performance begins with Ray Lee appearing with a colleague both dressed in identical suits that reference the ‘living sculpture’ duo Gilbert & George, as well as Joseph Beuys’ Felt Suit, 1970. These two men studiously approach the apparatuses switching the drones on and fine tuning and the frequency of the circuitboard with a small screwdriver. They back off from the devices to carefully consider the results of their endeavours. As more sirens are switched on and the armatures begin to rotate a complex web of sound is woven (SEE VIDEO). At night a further dimension is offered via LEDs on the rotating arms which describe lines in space (flickr).
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