Roberto Pugliese: acoustic perspectives and auditory visions

In his artistic research Roberto Pugliese highlights as the focal point of his analysis the physical nature of  sound, focusing on the existing relationship between the mechanical devices which he combines in his works, the acoustic manifestations they produce and their interaction with the space. The sound is conceived as the means of expression of the work itself but also as an interface between the artistic composition, the environment surrounding it and the outside world. The sound is seen as a creator of perspective and depth, both as a physical phenomenon and message part of a dialogue that investigates the bond between art and humanity, nature and technology. His research is inspired by the kinetic art and by the spatial and visual experiments of the sound art. In Pugliese’s works we can notice a constant investigation of the space as an entity connected to physical phenomena, to sound, in an open auditory-technological-experential exchange. Mathematics, statistics and physics applied to music are concepts which recall the experiments made in electronic music during the 50s such as those of Xenakis, Stockhausen, Schaeffer and Lucier but Pugliese tackles the subject with a different aesthetic and formal approach. He is, as a matter of fact, interested in translating the space itself into an audible product that goes back and forth from aestethics to real acoustic functionality in a formal, technical and conceptual balance which sometimes requires interaction and at other times is presented as a closed system.

An interesting example of interaction between robotic devices is Equilibrium variant, impressive cybernetic work for which Pugliese was awarded an honourable mention at the Ars Electronica festival, annual gathering about arts, technology and society, based in Linz in Austria and also won Vida 14,  art and artificial intelligence competition hosted by the telephone company “Telefonica Fundaciòn” in Madrid. A copy of the piece is in the permanent collection of the ZKM Museum in Karlsruhe, in the Center for the Arts, Technology and Media. Two mechanical arms face each other, one is equipped with a microphone, the other with a speaker. The two arms are programmed to look for an equilibrium through the use of the audio feedback, also known as the Larsen effect. The speaker emits a noise which is picked up by the microphone and transmitted to the amplifier, the noise is amplified and sent back to the speaker. Thus the microphone will capture once again the same sound, this time to a higher volume that will be subsequently further amplified and sent back to the same speaker and so on. In each step there will be an increase in volume that will constantly and rapidly grow producing the characteristic “Larsen effect”, a sort of electro-acoustic chain. The two robotic arms are in constant search for a balance and this process is bound to continue because the feedback does not have an equilibrium, therefore forcing them to constantly seek each other.

In common practice when this phenomenon happens, for example during a live exhibition, the sound engineer must immediately locate the microphone causing the Larsen effect, but is unable to shut it off completely because the sound captured by the microphone (e.g. the singer’s voice or the musical instrument) would go missing. Instead, it must progressively reduce the volume of that microphone, operating on the knobs of the mixing console. The sound engineer’s expertise lies in the capability to adjust the sound level only to the necessary amount in order to reduce, or even cancel, the Larsen effect, still preserving the sound coming from the musical instrument that is being captured by the microphone. The working principle inspiring Pugliese’s installation can be compared to the work the sound engineer has to do during live concerts. In the same way that a singer moves around the stage continuously changing the position of the microphone in relation to the speakers, forcing the sound engineer restlessly to adjust the volume of that microphone in order to avoid triggering the Larsen effect, at the same time we witness a comparable and constant struggle by the two robotic arms moving in a three dimensional space in order dynamically to look for a balance point between the triggering and the suppression of the Larsen effect. The distinctive trait of this installation consists of making a phenomenon we were so far only able to perceive through hearing visually available to our eyes: it’s a brilliant visual representation of a pure auditory experience.

Further magic is made by the hypnotic effect generated by the sinuous and tireless dance of the two robotic arms, which continuously  search in vain for an impossible balance. To the observer this is reminiscent of the mating rituals, or of moments of clash in which two alpha males fight for dominance. However although looking like mechanical devices they appear as living creatures that desperately wiggle while trapped in artificial structures from which they repeatedly try to escape. 

Pugliese’s works, despite being composed of electronic devices hold connections to natural qualities in an approach that could be divided into various stages: the instrumental analysis of natural phenomena, the processing of the collected data and the translation via computer equipment. In this way it is possible to achieve an original multi-sensorial reconstruction of the unceasing mutation of reality. Pugliese addresses this topic in his work Concert for still life. Floating in the air and to various extents, hanging from steel cables, we see a surreal but evocative “flock” of thirteen chestnut trunks taken from dead trees, all of them placed in a horizontal position after undergoing a particular milling process executed with a specific machine built by the artist which empties them making them hollow. A sound speaker is then inserted in the cylindrical cavity made in every tree. Obviously, the sound reproduced by each speaker is influenced by the peculiar shape and appearance of each single trunk and therefore the sounds produced are tangibly different. The sounds that can be heard coming from the trunks include noises from places where they have been collected and of the machines used for working on them. The digital manipulation of these sounds through specially programmed software, and their following compositional processing take the observer to a fascinating “still life” in which the peculiar soundscape perfectly matches the impressive visual impact that ensures an overwhelming emotional engagement.

Alice Zucca