Leider nur für geladene Gäste, aber immerhin wieder in Berlin: Evelina Domnitch und Dmitry Gelfand eröffnen die transmediale.09
A 15 kHz standing wave is generated between a transducer and a reflective surface: two waves sharing the same frequency and amplitude propagating with a 180 degree phase shift in opposite directions. Where the two waves superpose, the acoustic pressure is cancelled out, resulting in the formation of pressureless nodes that occur at half wavelength intervals — standing waves cannot arise unless they divide their medium into an integral quantity of half wavelengths. A high frequency, high amplitude standing wave, traveling through the air, creates tightly focused pressure fields that are strong enough to trap matter in the pressureless nodal cavities.
For this rendition of Sonolevitation, slivers of gold are acoustically suspended and spun in different directions at varying speeds. The spin reveals the rotary behavior of acoustic vibrations as well as the dynamics of frictionless motion (untainted by gravitational forces). A close-range microphone monitors the slivers’ modulation of the levitatory standing wave: the slightest turbulence or change in spin has highly audible consequences. The slivers also interact with each other, modifying one another’s spin patterns.