The sound installation UNVEILED PRESENCE (secret sounds 2) focuses on the “crying and wailing” sounds of the New York subway. Transported through ventilation shafts, these very drawn-out and vibrating screeching sounds can be heard above the ground in many places, forming a distinct feature of the city soundscape. Based on recordings made at different crossing points of the underground rail system these sounds have been processed and arranged in a composition.The acoustic situation is abstracted in the installation through the following construction:Two parallel nickel-plated wires horizontally span the space at a height of approx. 80 cm and approx. 3 cm apart. Four loudspeaker chassis are placed on the ground below the wires with a series of thinner wires vertically connecting them to the two main wires. Two loudspeakers are connected to one of the main wires. The two-channel composition is played back through the loudspeakers, whereby the movement of the diaphragms causes the wires to vibrate. Four vibration sensors are attached to the horizontal wires in different places. These pick up the vibrations of the composition and send the signal to a mixing console. The complete signal is mixed so that it is constantly on the brink of an uncontrollable feedback and the mixing console acts as a sound-adjusting device for the feedback signal, which merges the feedback with the sounds of the subway trains.
