This field recording formed part of a series intended to document the effects of club culture and amplified music on the architecture of the city. It was recorded in 2001 at the rear of the ‘Vic’, the Glasgow School of Art student union.
“I had long been fascinated by the effects that bass-heavy music had on this particular structure, witnessing it first hand on many occasions when passing by at the weekend. Due to age and design the panes of glass would rattle loudly in their frames under the assault of bass, causing more of a disturbance to local homeowners than the music itself. My exploration of this phenomenon took me to the back of the building where I discovered a broken yet intact windowpane. Here, the edges of the shards of glass (held in check by the frame) were ground together in time, but at a slight delay, to the music – I began to trace the cracks of the window with the microphone making audible the miniscule differences in pitch and vibration across its surface.”
Utilising Feonic technology the resonant surface of a glass windowpane was turned into a speaker for playback of the work. The work was installed on the window of the Janitor’s office in the foyer of the Mackintosh building, directly opposite the building where the original recording was made 11 years earlier.
Exhibited as part of the Group Show, The Interzone, Mackintosh Museum, Glasgow School of Art, 3rd – 30th November, 2012.