Autonomous Sense Object
2016
Materials: Wood, Steel, Acrylic, Velcro, 3D Printed Prosthetic Fingers, Leather, Lace, Speaker Cones, Electronics, Motors
In this piece, an appendage shrouded in leather bondage material is pecked, probed, and poked by a kinetic array of the artist's prosthetic velcro-tipped fingers. Several speakers affixed to the fingers are
driven acoustically by the velcro extrications that transfer energy into the speaker cones. This mechanical transduction operating on the speaker cone uses the natural amplification from the materials to create a
perpetual ripping sound.
This piece addresses issues related techno-eroticism, automata theory, and casts the body as a cyborgian object of erotic materiality. The BDSMR object complicates our awareness of sound by examining aurality as a fetish, as an agent in sensory arousal that derives from our darker, more lurid impulses.
Nolan Lem is an artist and researcher whose work reflects a broad range of influences and mediums. His sound-based work examines issues related to emergent physical dynamics, psychophysics, and the synchronization of auditory phenomenon. Nolan has premiered work at the Hayden Planetarium at the Natural History Museum, Mass MoCA, Pioneer Works, Pro Arts Gallery, The Wallach Gallery, and the NIME Conference among others. He has received commissions from the West Harlem Art Fund, the Hall Center for the Humanities, and the National Science Foundation. He holds degrees in jazz saxophone, electrical engineering, and received his MFA at Columbia University where he studied at the Computer Music Center. Nolan is currently a PhD candidate at Stanford University where he studies at the Center for Computer Research in Music and Acoustics (CCRMA).
nolanlem.com
