THE RING CYCLE: THE SOUND OF A TREE ( with axe accompaniment )

Bartholomäus Traubeck is a sound artist who specialises in creating music from unexpected sources. 

In 'Years' ( 2011 ) he has used the eye camera from a Playstation to read the data from the rings of an Ash tree. This data is then translated into a musical score by a program called Ableton Live. To us humans, music is an important form of mass communication. Do trees have the equivalent? Our anthropomorphic minds want there to be. The result is eerie and beautiful.

Below: Modified record player, wood, sleeves, 2011

In the punningly-titled 'Two Axes in a Forest' ( 2014 ), the artist loops the sound of guitars humming through one another. Where the imperfections in the manufacturing process prevent it being a perfectly resonant drone, a musical 'tune' is spontaneously created by the objects.

Below: Installation, Guitars, Amplifier, Transducers, 2014

WOLVERHAMPTON'S X-RATED RAIL RE-BRAND.

Quality Assurance: This is no April Fool, there is no Photoshop used in this article!

Even for frequent users of the various neglected rail stations across the UK, arriving in Wolverhampton can be a shock. Though the town itself boasts many examples of great architecture in a variety of styles - from the Classical, Romantic and Gothic ( take a stroll around the Town Centre ) to Thunderbirds Brutalist ( see the Art & Design faculty ) - none of these prepare the viewer for the hideous exemplar of Chernobyl-chic that greets them upon arrival at Wolverhampton's rail station. 

A corroded, mouldering agglomeration that is an insult to any great city not policed by roving death-squads, it seems that some bright intern has had the idea of re-branding the entire station to commemorate the forthcoming X-Men: Days of Future Past movie.

Maybe the visual pun of the site's resemblance to the 'world's worst nuclear accident', and a film about a mutant insurgency, was something the admen couldn't resist?

For the sake of a nifty film tie-in and some cute pictograms, one wonders how many confused travellers have accidentally continued on to Wales, thinking that this wasn't their stop? 

See photographs, below...

All photographs, copyright Alexi K Artist, 2014

 All signage, pictograms featured, etc, presumably copyright Virgin Trains!

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STOP PRESS!! Photo courtesy of John Morris at Tamworth Station, via Twitter 

( @JohnMorrisHello )

Possibly the nuttiest movie ad campaign ever..!

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X-MEN: DAYS OF FUTURE PAST

Official Trailer

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