Swedish audiovisual artist and woodworker Love Hultén has produced an impressive body of work that combines beautifully crafted woodwork with a retro synthesizer aesthetic. For his latest project, this conceptual framework has been infused with an organic element that serves as a progression of his themes of nature and music technology. Love Hultén’s ‘Tegel’ Sound Sculpture is part sculpture and part classical synthesizer, with a terrarium-like glass container housing a bonsai tree.
The bonsai tree, far from simply adding an organic visual element to act as a counterpoint to the rigid lines of the sculpture, is an integral part of its functionality. The artist’s intention here is more profound, with the bonsai providing biodata and guiding the waveforms and modulations the synth produces.
By connecting probes into the bonsai tree that detect fluctuations in the plant’s biological activities, the ‘Tegel’ Sound Sculpture translates these signals into MIDI, from which the integrated Korg HTS-1 synth produces the sounds. It’s a fusion of nature and music technology that essentially converts the plants into adjustable resistors.
Continuing the artist’s minimalist approach to design, Love Hultén’s ‘Tegel’ Sound Sculpture is constructed from red-brown miniature bricks that resemble the art of Danish painter and poet Per Kirkeby. This nostalgic style is complemented by a small MIDI keyboard to operate the synth and an analog VU-meter with a bank of controls.
It’s a unique and daring concept, and Love Hultén’s ‘Tegel’ Sound Sculpture is sure to be a hit with retro tech enthusiasts looking for a real talking point for their collection.
For more tech news, check out LG’s Innovative AI-Powered Home Robot.