BOX.NC is a project that seeks to blur the boundaries between object and space, both corporeal and virtual. The project is a response to Robert Morris’ box with the sound of its own making in the language of modern manufacturing methods. Morris’ box is a minimalist work consisting of a wooden cube measuring 9.75 inches on a side. The box contains a speaker that replays the sound of the artist’s hand constructing it. Morris’ work stages a perceptual paradox through being both a physical object and a vehicle for diffusing the recording of a part event. BOX.NC adds another layer of complexity to the paradox staged by Morris’ box by virtue of the methods used in its construction. The box was designed and fabricated using Computer Aided Design and Manufacturing software and a three axis, numerically controlled milling machine. The artist, in this case, does not wield a hammer or saw, but acts via a digital hand, describing, programming and executing. First, the object is modeled in a virtual design space. The resulting geometric description is then translated into g-code (a language that controls machine functions and describes the motion of the tool in real space). The machine executes the code, thereby producing the parts necessary for the box’s construction. Formally, the box houses a microcontroller, an EEPROM and a MP3 player. The code containing the instructions for reproducing the box is stored on the EEPROM (a ~1cm3 integrated circuit). The microcontroller perpetually reads this code and simultaneously displays it on a LCD and transmits it to a serial port located at the rear of the box. The MP3 player plays back recordings of the axis motors of the milling machine (recorded with contact microphones) By connecting the box to either a machine tool or a suitable computer application, the box can replicate itself physically or virtually. The box, then, is in a perpetual state of both being and becoming. Embodying both corporeal space (the box object) and un_space (the sound and instructions of its making), this work serves to exemplify Aristotle’s notion of overlapping space. Listen: |
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