Kai Vierstra
9x - Smack Mellon Gallery, Brooklyn

What's here is a perimeter of resonators resounding the sounds of a waterfall. Inside this perimeter is a wall painting with an aluminum parabolic reflector up high and a velvet & sheepskin kneeling mat on the floor.
How & why-
The waterfall creates subtle infrasonic frequencies1 that are picked up by the microphone. The signal is then amplified by the pair of "Buttkicker" amps and is sent to the four "Buttkicker" electromagnetic resonators that make up the perimeter wall of vibrations. When this whole infrasonic propagation device is in effect a warning system is activated. This warning system consists of a depiction of a pigeon in a state of rest that overlays with a pigeon in an agitated state of flight when illuminated. The symbol of a pigeon is used, as the bird possesses a particularly acute sense of hearing that can pick up frequencies as low as .5 hertz. The pigeon falls into place with it's fellow, the canary, to warn us of danger.
The parabolic2 chapel that sits inside of the perimeter is, in a physical as well as definitive sense, a bridge between scientific inquiry and theological understanding. The parabola's ability to transform sound waves and create a focus as opposed to the typical tendency of a speaker to radiate noise in all directions creates a point of contact for the sound on the ground. This effect allows us to have a closer, more private relationship with the sound. It encloses us in its radiance and raises in us the awe and transcendence that we feel while in communion with a higher deity. The signal used, in this case a Spanish radio station, draws in the sound of the community and becomes the voice of the choir, the sound of worship.


(1) Infrasonic frequencies are the sounds that fall in the range below 20 hertz. They are all the low tones that the human ear cannot hear. Much research is being done to discover the nature of infrasonic frequencies and their effect on humans. What is known is that the essential messages that are carried to and from our brains are done so in the form of infrasonic frequencies. By manipulating these frequencies at a high enough amplitude one can "hack" into the human system, creating cross chatter in the body. Once inside the body these frequencies can create a myriad of effects from "ghosting" (manipulating vision and nerves to create the tell-tale tingling and visual aberrations associated with hauntings) to the "brown sound" (causing the immediate evacuation of the bowels). Even worse than this, and why this technology is so interesting the military is the extremely low tones that can cause the shut down of the body's essential functions resulting in extreme pain and death.
(2) Parabolic by definition is:
1. Of or similar to a parable.
2. Of or having the form of a parabola or paraboloid.
So its definition defines its role as this thing that has its feet in two apparently very different worlds. One, the world of parables and the bible, stories that lay the groundwork for the understanding of all that's good and moral and bring us to an understanding of the wishes of a greater power for our lives. Two, the world of the parabola and its physical function in the tangible world of science.