Music From Nowhere (1989-1990) – Gordon Monahan

sound object
loudspeaker box, motor, rainsticks
dimensions variable
Gordon Monahan

Gordon Monahan

* 1956 in Kingston (CA), lives in Meaford (CA) and Berlin (DE)

In the work series Music From Nowhere, Gordon Monahan transforms loudspeaker cabinets into autonomously operating music machines. The loudspeaker chassis were gutted and the speakers replaced with devices that mechanically produce sound. All of the built-ins work automatically.

The Canadian sound artist has repurposed tiny fountains, mechanical vibrators, and other motor-driven systems to generate sounds and noises. At the same time, the construction takes mechanical variables into account, anticipating that the sounds generated will vary in unpredictable ways. This indeterminacy evokes the illusion that the loudspeaker boxes are broadcasting radio recordings or LPs. But Music From Nowhere has no sound source other than the mechanical music machines inside the “fake” loudspeakers.