Benoît Maubrey: “Gateway – a Speakers Sculpture”

You can call this sculpture and talk through it for 3 minutes by dialing the following number (030) 25489 501.
Via Bluetooth technology (please connect to a BELKIN Account) on your smartphone, laptop, tablet you are also welcomed to play your own music, sounds and messages.

Since 1985 the artist Benoît has been creating public sound sculptures using recycled electronics and loudspeakers. He mainly uses loudspeakers, tuners and amplifiers) as “building blocks” to create monumental sculptures in public spaces. The sculptures allow the public to speak out loud by calling a telephone number and expressing themselves via the sculpture for 3 minutes. Also the sculpture amplifies “recycled” (invisible) electromagnetic waves – white noise – that are produced by the incorporated radio receivers: the white noise sounds are low volume and are permanently hearable as a “background” sound that changes throughout the day, this is the “pulse” of the sculpture.

“Gateway”, commissioned by MaerzMusik 2014, is made of 700 recycled loudspeakers integrated into the entrance of the Haus der Berliner Festspiele. The sculpture itself functions as a single multi-channel loudspeaker, all loudspeakers are connected. However it is noticeable that the sound is different according to the position of the listener: each loudspeaker emits a unique sound. In Benoît Maubrey’s “Gateway” the visitors are encouraged to participate.