ELFA

2014

ELFA is a real-time data visualization using old media that has been used to carry data before digital storage. There has always been a problem with overwriting data during which you lose part of the original data set. I got curious about how the sound changes over time if it is being overwritten on a tape over a period of time. It has been done in a digital environment and proved that every time when you overwrite you lose a small fraction of data. I wanted to see how the data will change using older media as storage and the system to do the overwriting. For this, I choose to use magnetic tape and reel-to-reel recorders. I have a lot of good memories from childhood playing with these devices together with my dead. For the data source, I used ex-residents of the village in which the work was exhibited. The data represented memories and how they slowly dissolve and get fragmented after a period of time. The work was exhibited for two weeks during which audio was changed every day in front of visitors. Two magnetic tape recorders played a loop. One of the recorders played the tape and the other one was recording what the first one played. The result was an abstract sound piece that otherwise we would never hear. 

Exhibitions
– 2014 9 – 21 August, “Marodatieri”, Contemporary Jurkalne, Jurkalne, LV