Jacob C Hammes
Low
A
construction grade aluminum, transducer, sine wave, wood
2011
Low A is an 11 foot ceiling mounted sculpture emanating metallic tones from aluminum sheet metal interacting with a transducer and a sine wave oscillator. Resonating at frequencies around A-440, the system transforms the pure tone of a sine wave into a cloud of jangly, dissonant harmonics reminiscent of thunder.
In orchestral tuning, musicians often tune their instruments to the A note played on the Oboe. The specific frequency of the A note has historically been both geographically and stylistically determined, with regions spread across Europe in the 17th century choosing tuning systems between two and six semitones above or below the modern concert pitch of A-440 Hz.
In the last century, many attempts had been made to standardize pitch, most notably a German-led attempt by Joseph Goebbels in 1939 which formed an international treaty that dissolved after the outbreak of WWII. During this time, musical instruments were mostly banned from production due to the war effort, however some manufacturers were able to switch from Brass to Aluminum.
The oscillator wavers between 2 semitones above and below our standardized A note, serving as a ghostly meditation on what is lost and what is gained by “standardization” of creative output.
link to exhibition catalogue from Waveforms at Indiana University Grunwald Gallery
