Johanna Tiedtke and Bernd Klug participated as a team for an artist residency across two weeks from April 4th to April 15th. Originally from Germany and Austria, respectively, and now living in Brooklyn, NY, Tiedtke and Klug started their collaboration on an ongoing project titled BEARING, an evolving installation which started at the Galerie Freihausgasse in Villach, Austria, in the Spring of 2015 and was furthered at the Austrian Cultural Forum in New York. BEARING featured a metal frame hung on strings aligned to the geographic and geometric relationship of the Galerie Freihausgasse to the Austrian Cultural Forum in New York. With vibrating metal plates the artists aim to catch traces from the visitors, which after the exhibition were scanned and transferred into painting on translucent paper. Piano-wire, piezo discs, transducers, microphones and speakers were used to trace the real time acoustic properties of the gallery space and its visitors.

In New York, the publicly accessible, interactive environment extended over three floors and used the architectural and institutional structures of the building to create different zones and layers of engagement. Visitors played an integral role: subtle feedback traces their movements as they walk through the installation, thus altering the soundscape. The traces from the exhibition in Austria were scanned to UV-prints on translucent paper, mounted on piano strings, which were activated by transducers and played back like vinyl records.

During their residency, Tiedtke and Klug sought to translate the marks of time from these zinc records into a printed form using the discs themselves. These prints are to play a role in an upcoming release of an album composed by Klug featuring samples from the sounds from the exhibitions and the zinc records themselves. Collaborating with Gill Arno to design the record sleeves, Tiedtke and Klug hope to release this new work as a limited edition release within the year.

Below are photos from Tiedtke and Klug’s residency: