Tim Meacham

Duster, 2016 Dust fall activated by the exterior sound of passing trains. Dust collected from a room redistributed

In the centre of a bay window a fine cascade of dust occasionally falls from the ceiling apparently linked to the passing of a distant train. Dust was collected from the room and placed in a tea strainer fitted with a small vibrating electric motor. The motor is triggered by a sound activated switch linked to a parabolic microphone placed outside and directed at the nearby railway track. Tuned to the deepest rumble of the passing trains the sound causes a small amount of dust to be released through the tea strainer. Each cascade is different in form, moved by internal convection. The piece ran for days unnoticed by the occupants of the house, silently releasing and redistributing their own dust to form tiny cones on the floor, their dispersal patterns tracing air movements. A material and sonic conversation between interior and exterior space, the passing of a distant heavy machine causing a gentle dust fall, unnoticed by both. 
The bay window is considered a covered balcony, projecting from the face of the building, granting extended views on 3 planes. This architectural “reaching” of the house into the world outside beyond the glass, is referenced in the dialogue granted through an exterior phenomena/cause of sound triggering an internal unnoticed (silent) effect. The house speaks to the outside via the glass in its own material language through the release of some of its matter in the form of dust.