Date: November 2014
Location: Installed in a private home in Jakarta
Description:
Bronze Balinese Gongs, Patinate Steel, Teak Wood Mallets, and Robotics. ,
Size: 2 piece at 70in x 13in x 36in (178 x 33 x 91cm) , 2 pieces at 24in x 24in x 74in (61 x 61 x 188cm), all free standing.
2 free standing patinate steel rack sculptures holding 6 bronze Balinese kettle gongs each and 2 freestanding triangular sculptures holding 2 mid sized bronze hanging gongs. Each gong is retrofitted with anodized aluminum robotic levers and teak wood mallets covered in batik fabric and hand dyed cotton string.
The Gamelatron Gelombang Dewa-Dewi (Indo: Sonic Wave Deities expressed in the masculine and feminine) is a sonic kinetic sculpture that accentuates a phasing effect, called "ombang", created by multiple gongs slightly detuned from each other playing in chorus.
There are 5 pairs of kettle gongs called Trompong (Balinese pelog notes: Dang, Ding, Dong, Deng, Dung) slightly detuned from each other with 2 muted kettle gongs called kempli and kajar that are used like a metronome with two 23-inch diameter hanging gongs called Kempur that are used like periods in a musical sentence. The instruments are designed to be in sonic balance with each other, half the set designated as the feminine and the other as the masculine. The notes played alone are like pure sine waves. When they are played by their complimenting instrument they become round, more full, like a chorus with a beating pattern. The main theme of this work is to share and accentuate a literal and metaphoric harmony - a balance of the masculin and feminine, the old and the new, the east and the west.
