Announcement Big Art 2023

Jochem Esser is currently working on ‘Menhir’ a new large-scale sculpture that will be on show during Big Art Amsterdam from September 29 to October 1st.

The work is based on a sound wave at which two PA-Horn Speakers are aimed. The Horn-Speakers play sounds towards the sculpture. Part of the sound passes through and past the sculpture, and part reflects on the surface of the sculpture. After the sculpture is built, Jochem tests different horn speakers by playing and listening to different frequencies reflecting off the surface of the sculpture. When he has found these frequencies, he can compose a soundscape. The goal is to make the sound and the object merge into one thing.

There is no beginning and no end to the sounds that are played. With the PA Speakers, the sculpture forms an endless loop that the viewer can approach from different sides. 

In his work, Jochem Esser looks for the relationship between static objects and dynamic processes that we are often unaware of in our daily lives. Doing so, he creates a concentration in which this relationship can become visible / audible / tangible. An important starting point is to manufacture the objects by hand in order to create a tangible relationship between him as a maker and the processes. It reflects his ambivalent relationship with technology which on the one hand acts as a great creative force, but on the other hand as a force that alienates us from our humanity. By handcrafting the objects and producing sounds with MAX MSP (a programming language in which sounds come from pure data) these two worlds are reconciled.  

Location Big Art 2023: Bajeskwartier, H.J.E. Wenckenbachweg 48, 1096 AH Amsterdam