disharmonium
disharmonium, 2009, organ that pumps the pedals by itself (organ and electric engine).
sound: the mechanical sound from the engine meets the organic sound from the organ, and two tones are heard, where
one is a dampened bas tone, and one is a higher tone where you sometimes also hear an overtone.
”Socrates talks of being one and therefore not being able to risk getting out of harmony with himself. But nothing
that is identical with itself, truly and absolutely One, as A is A, can be either in or out of harmony with itself:
you always need at least two tones to produce a harmonious sound.”
-Hannah Arendt ”The Life of the Mind”
*
When I was about five years old, my parents gave me a small amount of money to buy something little at a flee market.
I spent the money, maybe with some help from a tricky salesman, on an old school organ, which my parents then had to
drag home. This organ were after that standing in our home, me and my sisters sometimes played with it, and later we
learned to play some simple melodies.
Now, many years later, I have bought my second organ. I was searching for a long time, but finally I found an advert
where the school in Hasslöv (Hasslövs Bygdeskola) were writing that they wanted to get rid of their old organ.
A harmonium is a keyboard instrument by organ type, a wind instrument. Other usual names in Sweden is chamber organ,
pump organ or school organ. Like in the harmonica and in the accordion the sound is produced by air being blown through
sets of free reeds, one per tone and stop, installed in holes where there is space to swing and which gets in motion by
an air stream. The air is pumped by a bellow or an electric fan. Most harmonies in the nordic countries have, like the
pipe organ and the accordion, several clang possibilities, which you can chose between by registers.
The type of organ that has been most common in the nordic countries is the reed organ; -the harmonium. The reed organ
was a cheaper alternative to the piano during the 19th and 20th century. It was a very common instrument in swedish
classrooms to the 1970´s and were also very common in small churches. It became an instrument for the people.
The word organ comes from the greek word "organon" that means organ, instrument or tool.
To live, one has to breath, and the heart must beat.
To play and get tones, one need to pump.
*
*
(thanks to dad)
*
disharmonium, 2009, installation view, Trädgårdshuset, Galleri Arnstedt, Östra Karup.
*
*