1988
Infinite Lines from Elusive Sources I, 1988

Drawing Max Neuhaus:

Infinite Lines From Elusive 1988 Generation of Endless Clickline, Sources #1,  - Colored pencil on paper - 45x57 cm. Collection Max Neuhaus Estate

Studies for a sound work with an elusive source

 These drawings outline three possible forms for a sound work where the source of the sound is ambiguous. They focus only on its physical form and do not characterize the possible nature of its sound. 

 The site is a courtyard formed by three walls of a villa. The drawings, looking from the courtyard's open side, show sound reflections between its two parallel walls. The work utilizes special sound sources which shape sound into a beam like a sound spotlight. These are placed out of sight in attic window openings. The walls of the courtyard act as mirrors for the sound beams. The first study explores the different possibilities when the beam is pointed at the wall at different angles: each color traces a different angle's path and shows where and how it passes through the listener's zone of hearing.. 

 Study #2, Center court ambiguous source, shows how two sound beams could form a sound which is heard only at one point in the center of the court, but seems to come from nowhere. The sound in Study #3, Overlapped source images, on the other hand would be heard across the courtyard, but each time the listener moves to one side, the source of the sound jumps to the wall on the opposite side. In Study #4, Wall image, center floor bounce, the work's sound would be heard at only two points in the courtyard. When the listener is standing to the left of center, the sound seems to come from high on the left hand wall. When he moves to the right of center, though, he would become quite convinced that it could only be coming from a point on the ground at the courtyard's center.

 Max Neuhaus