Phonautogram  VOID Oct 2019 -

Phonautogram is a project VOID started in 2019 with the idea of creating drawings with sound using the most ancient and analogical technique.
The artists built a machine based on the knowledge found in books and online of the first sound recording of history, realised by Édouard-Léon Scott de Martinville in 1860. He built a small rolling cylinder on which he set a piece of paper that he previously blackened with the smoke of an oil lamp. This black-smoke-coated paper is so sensitive that anything that touches the paper leaves a mark. With the help of a cone and a needle, he managed to draw and record the sound of his voice on this paper.
VOID uses the same technique with their machine, but on a much larger scale, and their drive is to make sound-drawings.
The results vary depending on different factors. Some drawings remind of landscapes, particularly desert horizons and sea views.
They are now working on a new version of the Phonautogram that will allow them to use the machine itself as sound art installation, recording the sound of the space for the entire duration of the exhibition, and engraving a unique sound-drawing.