// new media class


Özcan Ertek — The Devil's Rope - The Encounter

Legacy — Winter 2021

Devil’s Rope: The Encounter
kinetic-interactive sound installation
-barbed wire, turnbuckle, speaker, amplifier, MAX, arduino, microphone stand-

‘’It’s the best fence in the world. As light as air. Stronger than whisky. Cheaper than dust. All in steel and several miles long. The cattle haven’t been born that can get through it. Gentlemen, take up the challenge and bring your cows.’’
—John Warne Gates, barbed-wire merchant, Texas, 1870s
For over a century, iron barbed wire has been used almost everywhere: around fields and pastures in the country, in the city, on walls or fences of factories, around military barracks and even private residences. It has always been efficient enough to perform its desig­nated tasks: to define space and to establish territorial boundaries. “Devil’s Rope: The Encounter” intend to reflect on concept of borders. Using barbed wire as a component, it monitors border resonances and aims to sonify the complexity of human mobility. As viewers approach the barbed wire, the sensor detects their presence and alters the frequency at which the wire vibrates. This dynamic effect serves as a metaphorical representation of the audience's proximity to the complexities and resonances of the borders.