Artist Statement 

Vertical is part of SONIC SPACES, a series of installations on elements of architecture

Vertical 1 
A vertical line of loudspeakers plays a downward sliding tone which is followed by a heavy subbass punch on the ground, very present in the installation, too low and therefore not audible in the video documentation.

The punch seems to trigger an ‘eruption’ in a tank, which is filled with black liquid. The liquid erupts in the form of a round wave, which disintegrates and splashes in all directions. Over the duration of the exhibition a black speckled, dirty image thus forms on the initially clean, white floor.

What compromises do we make when we interpret the world by the ambiguous information we receive from our senses?
Because of the temporal and spatial conjunction of the two independent events, the ‘falling sound’ and the visual impact right after, we interpret the scene as cause and effect. Synaesthetic perception enables the physical experience of an intermodal illusion. The exploration of the phenomenology of the senses culminates in the investigation of illusions, this raises the issue of the fallibility of the senses. As we seek consistency in the perceived world we reduce it to a fragment, which appears coherent when related to our life experience. Technological advances offer us ever greater reason to distrust our senses, though.

Vertical 2 Audiovisual Installation (2016): Interfacial Microphone, 1 Loudspeaker, Wooden box, two mirrors, LED lights

In Vertical 2 confusion, disinformation and communication are provoked by a small white cuboid standing in a large exhibition space. It can be entered by one person at a time.

Contradictory, even paradoxical spatial information are produced via visual and audible stimuli. Low and small from the outside, the space gains unexpected height and thereby largeness when entered. The absence of consistency between the inner and outer perspective is furthermore deepened by another aspect to be experienced inside. The cuboid not only seems to open up vertically, but also downward below the feet. The space seems to become an open vertical tunnel. Neuronal information about direction is given via reflected light, information about size via acoustic impulse responses and shepard effects. It might catch the visitor’s eye that the constructional elements of the cuboid are visible from the outside in a reductionist manner. Its building style lies open; there seem to be no secrets. All the more visitors are left alone with the ambivalence of their sensation.

The realness of the outside world is considered to be independent of human observations. In this regard Vertical 2 appears to be an intentional aesthetic object that questions realness and enables visitors to synthesize virtuality.

Vertical 2 is a continuation of a series of artworks by Anke Eckardt on elements of architecture called Sonic Spaces: Vertical 2 (2016), Ground (2014), Wall (“Between | You | And | Me” 2012), Vertical 1 (“!” 2010). In this series, the artist explores the ambivalence of sensation. [source: ankeeckardt.com/]

• Anke Eckardt, born in 1976 in Dresden, Germany, lives in Cologne, Germany. Anke Eckardts work encompasses mutimedia / sound art installations, research and teaching. Anke received her Master of Arts at the UdK Berlin (University of the Arts, Berlin) in 2010, she studied with Sam Auinger, Holger Schulze and Sabine Sanio. From 2011-2013 she was a stipend of the Einsteinstiftung at the Graduate School of the Arts and the Sciences at the UdK Berlin, mentored by Christina Kubisch. 2014-2017 she was an artistic associate of the artist and Professor Heike Klussmann at the Department of Visual Arts & Architecture within the School of Architecture, Urban Planning and Landscape Design at the University of Kassel, Germany. Additionally, Anke has a professional background in sound engineering. ankeeckardt.com