Stephan von Huene

Greetings

1996

Artist / Artist group
Stephan von Huene
Title
Greetings
Year
1996
Category
installation, video, Video installation
Material / Technique
drum mounted on a wooden box, drumsticks, mechanics, video projection
Dimensions / Duration
154 x 64 x 11 cm<br />
Collection
ZKM | Center for Art and Media Karlsruhe
Description

Stephan von Huene’s 1996 sound sculpture »Greetings« consists of a drum mounted on a black lacquered wooden box. A camera fixed above it records visitors and projects their image onto the back of the translucent drumskin.

Visitors approach on recognizing themselves in the projection, and as they get closer, their faces projected onto the 50cm-wide mallet enlarge. As they move in further, a drumstick [mallet] strikes the drum. The drum’s surface vibrates, and so does the portrait along with it, the image distorting slightly. The artwork’s 'greeting', with its loud, usually unexpected drumbeat, startles the viewer.

The experience and self-perception of Huene’s audience play an important role in his works—it is the viewers' intense contemplation of their own image that triggers action. On the one hand, visitors to »Greetings« play an active role in the sound installation, and on the other, they themselves become the content: They recognize themselves in the system that observes them, and hence become a part of that system.

Author: Theresa Rößler

About the artist/s