Schachtophon 343 m/s

Schachtophon 343 m/s is an interactive audio-visual installation used for performing the image of a double ‘shachto-phonic’ sound barrier, or the image coming from the machine monitored by four internal cameras combined with a spectacular exterior presentation of ‘braking’ the sound barrier for the audience gathered at a beach.

The so-called ‘Scachtophonists’ can access interior images by opening the two lateral walls on the shaft shell. 1st image: ceiling surveillance camera no.1 inside a reflector housing with a lens; 2nd image: panoramic safety mirror monitored by the camera no.2; 3rd image: ceiling surveillance camera no.3 inside a reflector housing with a lens; 4th image: panoramic safety mirror monitored by the camera no.4.

Schachtophonic soundwall operators create vibrations by the use of strings marked with signal colours, and thus fabricate the four lines of constant sonic communication with the voice of William Burroughs: And just let me tell you (17.08 sec.) and So unspeakably distasteful (11.60 sec.), in total: 343 seconds.

The concept
The concept functions through performing the speed of sounds ‘breaking’ the sound barrier by air and iron alloy – steel wires used in the production of strings. Performance in relation with the speed of supersonic aircrafts ‘breaking’ the sound barrier plays a vital role, whereas recorded pictures and their sounds are visualized through the medium of video images. Thus, they can be listened to from the sound boxes with lower sound intensity, whereas sounds resulting from breaking the sound barrier by the vibrations of strings are more current and their natural sonority inside of an acoustic metal box is further reinforced by the signal inside of sound boxes. On the other hand, images of their speed of sound production are visualized by means of recordings of live surveillance cameras which record ‘here and now’ of their performance. A ‘schachtophonic cabin’ in a form of impenetrable metal wall has been constructed for this double experiment. The Schachtophone is 1.80 m high, 2 m long and 1 m wide. It is filled with two string nets made of four vertical strings 1 m long and 2.2 - 3.4 mm in diameter, marked in red, yellow, and blue colour. Additionally, it is equipped with two pairs of noise protection headphones, which transmit the voice instructions for creating noise by the use of strings. The strings vibrate in the above-described sequence of colours over the duration time of the voice loop in 12 cycles made of 4 x 4 vibrations, thus creating a ‘schachtophonic duet’. All movement inside of the Schachtophone are double surveyed by two ceiling and two corner safety mirrors with diverse features. The images thus captured are recorded by surveillance cameras and then projected on the ‘front’ tin wall of the Schachtophone simultaneously with the projection of images captured from the surveillance cameras and video images of a supersonic plane breaking the sound barrier on the "rear" tin wall.