Social Dive (International)

The Egg

Marco Barotti

*This project has been cancelled due to the COVID-19 infection that prevented the artist from coming to Japan.

＜Tokyo Biennale 2020 SOCIAL DIVE Artist-in-Residence Projects＞

Marco Barotti’s new work is a kinetic sound sculpture resembling an egg. The cycle of life, reflected in the shape of the sculpture with neither beginning nor end, symbolizes fertility and reproduction – and thus questions the impact of overpopulation. Driven by real-time data generated by the Worldometer, the sculpture constantly changes its shape.

The data produced by the Worldometer counter recording births and deaths is converted into bass frequencies. These frequencies are pitched below what is audibly perceptible by human beings, infrasound. They are too low to be heard but powerful enough to drive the subwoofer to produce movements, air pressure and sound vibrations to interact with the flexible membrane of the structure. This creates unpredictable patterns that continuously reshape the sculpture. The EGG is made out of natural rubber, a high-tech latex material produced from tree bark.

(As of June 2021)

Artist

Marco Barotti (Artist)

Marco Barotti is a media artist based in Berlin. After music studies at Siena Jazz Academy, he began merging sound with visual art. His work is driven by a desire to invent an artistic language in which a fictional post-futurist era is expressed through kinetic sound interventions in natural and urban environments. His installations merge audio technology, consumer objects and waste into moving sculptures triggered entirely by sound. The primary focus of his work is to create a “tech ecosystem” that plays with resemblances to animals. These artworks serve as a metaphor for the anthropogenic impact on the planet and aim to make people aware of environmental issues.
His work has been exhibited internationally in: Ars Electronica (Linz, Austria) Saatchi Gallery (London, UK), Futurium, NGBK Gallery (Berlin, Germany), Polytech Festival (Moscow, Russia), FACT (Liverpool, UK), Wro Art Center (Wroclaw, Poland) , Würth Museum (La Rioja, Spain) Emaf (Osnabrück, Germany), Lisboa Soa (Lisbon, Portugal), Nuit Blanche (Brussels, Belgium), Platoon (Mexico City, Mexico), Urban Lights Ruhr (Hamm, Germany), and List í Ljósi Light Festival (Iceland).
https://www.marcobarotti.com/

Photo by Julija Goyd