Discordia Machine
Year: 2016
Material: Trash, Electronics, Sound
Size: 8'x8'x10'
Question: Will rhizomatic connections between speakers made from trash create a mystical experience?
About Discordia Machine
"Discordia Machine" from 2016 is a masterful work by XenoFluff, exuding an excellent paradigm of multimedia art and collaborative creativity. It is an amalgamation of trash, electronics, and sound stacked together into a massive installation measuring 8'x8'x10'.
Constructed from found objects and handmade speakers, this artwork is a testament to communal effort and environmental consciousness. The project involved the participation of 30 high school students from rural New Hampshire, who were led by XenoFluff over a summer to construct speakers from electronics and trash from the site. The speakers were then compiled into a towering sculpture, suspended from the ceiling.
The result is a rhizomatic network of sound-emitting entities, designed to create a mystical acoustic experience. This artwork’s strength lies not only in its collaged form but also its performance element— XenoFluff conducted a meditative ritual with the students, amplifying the sculpture’s resonating sounds.
"Discordia Machine" represents the concept known in philosophy as 'rhizome,' a model of thinking that allows for multiple, non-hierarchical entry and exit points in interpretation. The artwork is an immersive sound constellation that embodies this rhizomatic ideation, where each unique speaker contributes to the overall sonic texture yet retains its distinct resonance.
Simultaneously, this artwork powerfully symbolizes the repurposing of discarded objects and invigorates the conversation around sustainable art practices. It positions trash not as waste, but as valuable material for artistic creation, worthy of contemplation and capable of producing significant aesthetic and sensory experiences.
In essence, "Discordia Machine" triumphs as an artwork through its interactive and collective form, the sensory experience it offers, and its socio-ecological statement. It once again underscores XenoFluff's distinct artistic language that skillfully marries conventional artistic practices with contemporary concerns and innovative approaches.
