Herman Kolgen’s high tech audiovisual installations render the invisible visible, through radiographic detection and data. Though his projects have conceptual concerns, they all remain physically tangible, pushing sonic boundaries into body vibrating territory and altering visual perceptions, playing on notions of physical, cerebral and emotional tension.
The internationally renowned, multifaceted artist has been modelling “audiokinetic” sculptures for over 20 years. From 1996 to 2008, Kolgen dedicated the majority of his immersive practice to the Skoltz_Kolgen duo, performing at prestigious international events such as Berlin’s Transmediale, the Venice Biennale, Austria’s Ars Electronica, and multiple appearances at MUTEK. He’s also traveled the world with his work, including with ongoing projects Dust, Inject and Aftershock, landing at museums, festivals and less likely locales.
Kolgen’s tension-charged performance Seismik taps into seismic waves, frictional resistance and the Earth’s tremor related phenomena in real-time. He developed software that picks up on magnetic fields and seismic activity, in turn generating abstracted sound and dramatic visual motifs, such as vertical through lines to explore strains and fractures. His new version of Seismik, made specifically for this year’s MUTEK, marks a major upgrade to the real-time connectivity and reactivity with seismographs, adds a geophone device that analyzes vibrations in the room and is connected to seismographs on the other side of the planet, and elaborates on the data interface, audio, imaging and open frameworks. The result is said to shake body and soul

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