329 prepared dc-motors, cotton balls, toluene tank, 2013 in Dottikon, Switzerland by Zimoun

Article source: Studio Zimoun

Using simple and functional components, Zimoun builds architecturally-minded platforms of sound. Exploring mechanical rhythm and flow in prepared systems, his installations incorporate commonplace industrial objects. In an obsessive display of simple and functional materials, these works articulate a tension between the orderly patterns of Modernism and the chaotic forces of life. Carrying an emotional depth, the acoustic hum of natural phenomena in Zimoun’s minimalist constructions effortlessly reverberates.

Image Courtesy © Studio Zimoun

• Architects: Zimoun
• Project: 329 prepared dc-motors, cotton balls, toluene tank, 2013
• Location: Dottikon, Switzerland
• Copyright: Studio Zimoun
• Artist: Zimoun
• Dimensions: 9.4m x 12.8m height,  30.8 x 42 ft.
• Credits: Architecture and consulting by Hannes Zweifel. Assisted from Studio Zimoun by Florian Bürki, Ulf Kallscheidt, Janis Weidner, Marlene, Hirtreiter and Annie Rüfenacht. Making-of video by Florian Bürki. Lighting system designed and developed by Davide Groppi., Landscape architecture by Hannes Zweifel and Samuel Interbitzi. Project coordination on-site in Dottikon by Bruno Bachmann., Constructive engineering by Hans Jörg Baumann and Arthur Hauser.

Image Courtesy © Studio Zimoun

«The sound sculptures and installations of Zimoun are graceful, mechanized works of playful poetry, their structural simplicity opens like an industrial bloom to reveal a complex and intricate series of relationships, an ongoing interplay between the «artificial» and the «organic». It‘s an artistic research of simple and elegant systems to generate and study complex behaviors in sound and motion. Zimoun creates sound pieces from basic components, often using multiples of the same prepared mechanical elements to examine the creation and degeneration of patterns.» Tim Beck

Image Courtesy © Studio Zimoun

«Zimoun creates complex kinetic sound sculptures by arranging industrially produced parts according to seemingly simple rules. Using motors, wires, ventilators, etc.., he creates closed systems that develop their own behavior and rules similarly to artificial creatures. Once running, they are left to themselves and go through an indeterminable process of (de)generation. These quasi autonomous creatures exist in an absolutely synthetic sphere of lifeless matter. However, within the precise, determinist systems creative categories suddenly reappear, such as deviation, refusal and transcience out of which complex patterns of behavior evolve.» Node10

Image Courtesy © Studio Zimoun

«The clean, elegant sound sculptures combine visual, sonic, and spatial elements in an organically balanced entirely artwork. Using simple and well conceived mechanical systems, Zimouns‘s work transforms and activates the space.» Jury Prix Ars Electronica 2010

«There’s a poetic and humorous absurdity we find in Zimoun’s work, which opens up a wide, refreshing and enriching space for
discoveries, associations and a multitude of approaches.» Nina Terry

Image Courtesy © Studio Zimoun

«The components used in Zimoun’s work are simple, functional and raw, whereas only aesthetically high-level and purposefully
chosen elements and materials are used in minimalist fashion. Through radical reduction, Zimoun creates works of art which allow for a plethora of associations without being pinned down to a specific direction. Radical abstraction functions rather like a code in the background of things, thus elegantly avoiding an insinuation of direct, concrete attribution. Thanks to the abundance of mechanical activity, the range of perception, possibilities and interpretations is wide open.» Amanda Neumann

Image Courtesy © Studio Zimoun

Image Courtesy © Studio Zimoun

Image Courtesy © Studio Zimoun

Image Courtesy © Studio Zimoun

Tags: Dottikon, Switzerland

This entry was posted on Wednesday, August 21st, 2013 at 6:59 am. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.