The punch-card music box of the 18th and 19th centuries may be the oldest example of physically stored digital media and the transubstantiation of mass-produced media into an intangible and artistic form – music. In 'Schizoporotica', Troika reinvents the music box over a century after its conception. Users are invited to tear their exhibition entrance tickets and feed them into the machine creating their own 'shredded melody'.
Analysis of the resulting pattern then pitches the melody with endless possibilities. The torn pattern becomes a physical representation of the new musical range according to which a pre-loaded melody is then played. Only the notes are affected - the rhythm and the rest of the composition remain untouched reminiscent of a pianist playing on a de-tuned piano.
Originally inspired by an image of the broken comb of a music box, but touching base at automated vendors, ticket barriers and cash ATMs along the way, we wanted to evoke our day-to-day encounters with digital information in a satisfying tangible way. The playfulness of deliberate tearing flies in the face of the automatic way in which we deal with tickets and passes and creates a way for us, the user, to dictate the sonic outcome through a simple creative process.
The 'Schizoporotica' comes loaded with a great variety of melodies to shred apart, from classical compositions to world famous electro anthems.
