The multimedial approach is characteristic of Martin Pinter’s artistic methodology. Pinter works both as a video artist (reMI) and a musician, and his work “SUB/DC” should also be seen against this media-artistic background. In its basic form, the work fulfils the criteria of a sculpture, particularly in the context of Minimal Art, which, in addition to reducing objects on a formal level, pointed out the formal similarity of works of art to functional, industrially produced objects.
The basic structure of this sculpture is a former steel water silo with a length of 11m and a diameter of 4m, which was removed from its original frame of reference and subjected to an entirely new contextualisation. Fitted with eight bass loudspeakers, the silo has become a musical instrument. Visitors have the possibility of modifying the sound structures. The deep frequency ranges produce pressure waves that not only make the sound audible but also palpable on a physical level. The composition data is visualised on an external monitor. In the sense of an advanced sculpture concept, the converted Ready Made can thus not only be registered on a visual level, but addresses several senses.
In his work “Box with the Sound of Its Own Making”, Robert Morris in 1961 pointed out the self-referentiality and the time dimension of works of art. Michael Pinter refers to the functional possibilities on the basis of the specific physical and existential dispositions of a piece. This plastic experience is not only imparted by the three-dimensional object in its materiality, but also by the acoustic structure of the work – the drasticness of the sound.
