DECAY
2022 – 22424
Soundsculpture
Collaboration with Sound Art Duo Hauptmeier|Recker

DECAY is a sounding sculpture dealing with radioactive decay processes in extreme periods of time, which are beyond our human perception, lifespan and imagination. The sculpture is calculated to play for 20,402 years.

By German law radioactive waste must be stored safely for one million years. Through an artistic engagement DECAY aims to arrive at a better understanding of time periods of this extreme extent.

DECAY’s pulse generator is a slightly radioactive uranium glass. For each radioactive decay detected by a specially designed geiger counter, a droplet is released from the electronically controlled valve in the head of the column, falls onto the top metal plate and causes it to vibrate. This vibration resonates in the plates below, which are connected by transducers and microphones in a complex network of electroacoustic feedback.

As time progresses, the droplet changes the resonant properties of the metal plates. Exposure to oxygen and water causes the metal to begin to rust and dissolve after a calculated time, causing the droplet to hit the plate underneath, which has a different tuning. It is a slow but steady process of decay, the sounds decompose continuously and die slowly.
The intended life span of each plate and the resulting total performance time is determined by the metal alloys chosen, the thickness of the material, and the external influences.
Part of the sculpture is a score laser engraved in a glass cube. It contains the concept, the general setup, the sonic evolution and the acoustic now-state of the plates, as well as technical details that are important for rebuilding and maintaining the sculpture.

CREDITS:

artistic concept and realization PAUL HAUPTMEIER & MARTIN RECKER
circuits: VICTOR MAZÓN GARDOQUI
drawings: ELISABETH LISELOTTE KRAUS
initiated and curated by: JULIAN RIEKEN
produced by: IMPULS Festival / Netzwerk IMPULS e.V.

with support of:
Max-Plank-Institute for Iron Research,
Didactics of Physics – Humboldt-Universität of Berlin

copyright: Hauptmeier | Recker – 2022

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