Musical Installation By Architectural Studio VForm — SONUS EX

Interest in the field of digital fabrication and the development of its applied aspects, including the field of modern architecture and contemporary art, resulted in the idea of studying the processes of interaction between a robot and sound instruments.

Further development of this idea led to the cooperation of the VForm Architectural Studio team with the GES-2 House of Culture and the receipt of a grant for research in this area. The result of this collaboration was the musical installation Sonus Ex (Machina).

Robots take more part in our lives than we used to think. Robotic arms or industrial robotic manipulators are actively used to automate processes in many industries to create objects around us in everyday life, from cars to clothing.

In our project, we decided to develop a series of musical instruments that only a robot can play. We used a design research approach: we obviously didn’t have an image of the musical instrument or composition we wanted to create. The final work was born from practical and digital testing of various hypotheses. To do this, we analyzed the capabilities of the machine, which a person does not have. For example, a robot can make very fast movements and do so an unlimited number of times with repeatable precision. Also, the robot, compared to humans, has more freedom of movement in the “joints” (which it calls “axes”), so we were not limited to human biomechanics and ergonomics when creating musical instruments. This gave freedom in their shaping, and allowed the instruments to become independent art objects.

SONUS EX Robotic Arm Music | VForm

Further development of the project was cooperation with the gallery of contemporary art – GROUND Solyanka and participation in the exhibition – Musical installation using the SONUS EX robotic arm, held from 4.04 – 21.05.2023.

Installation Sonus Ex (Machina), lat. “sound from the machine” will present the viewer not with a performance of a robot imitating a person, but with a unique game on musical instruments specially created for the manipulator.

Sonus EX Ground-Solyanka | VForm