"Of Earth" is a multimedia communication utilizing compositions of sight and sound being performed simultaneously.In the lab:
ROB DE LUCA makes sounds by using his diaphragm to push air over his larynx. His vocal chords open and close in a delicate or violent fashion, producing somewhat unnerving, but occasionally pleasant sounds. He simultaneously produces deeper noises from an apparatus made of wood and four long wrapped wires, which he attacks with his fingers or a plectrum. This apparatus is fitted with magnets coiled with hair thin copper wire, creating an electromagnetic field. This field picks up the vibrations made by Mr. De Luca's unorthodox attacking and delivers them through a cord to an electrical amplifier. Despite being labeled a heretic by critics, his peculiar ritual has now (d)evolved into an underground movement, which has been labeled "Staring At Sound".
PAUL CASANOVA plays a similar wood contraption that has six thin metal wires. He attacks this exclusively with a plectrum and produces a much wider, and far more interesting array of sounds. His contraption also transmits vibrations to an elecrical amplifier. This amplifier is connected to paper cones fitted with magnets that somehow transform electric energy into sonic energy. We're not quite sure how he does it either, but it causes Professor Casanova to jump around uncontrollably. This often leaves us wondering if something is going drastically right, or drastically wrong.
Never one to be outdone, MICHAEL MAY uses absolutely no electrical energy to create his aural experimement. Armed only with the energy of sheer human force, Dr. May beats on curved tubes of wood or plastic producing tones of different pitches. By beating on these with thin pieces of wood, he can alter and mix the rhythms and dynamics of the tones. He intersperses this frenzy with similar beatings of flat metal spheres to produce very high frequencies that upset all canines and mothers within 167 square feet.
Although most of his distinguished colleagues can't pronounce his name correctly, RAFAEL CARRASQUILLO is very respected among his peers. With all their combined experience in studies of art, acoustics, and physics, they can't quite comprehend his choice of expression. Professor Carrasquillo creates sounds from no vibrations whatsoever! He moves his fingers, sometimes amazingly quickly, over the white and black pieces of a plastic and metal computer machine. Each of these pieces coincide with a particular pitch that is created within the apparatus. It's further outfitted with lots of fancy push/pull knobs and levers that can instantly change all aspects of the sound's dimentions. We attempted dissassembling this machine to try and understand it, but Prof. Carrasquillo must have sensed this, and has since kept it locked and secure.
When all these processes coincide, "Of Earth" is truly a marvel of art and science.
