1967 – Pneumatic Rubber Tube Sound Sculpture – David Jacobs (American)

DAVID JACOBS
Born 1932 in Niagara Falls, New York. Studied in California, obtaining his M.A. at Los Angeles State College. Presently Acting Chairman, Fine Arts Department, Hofstra University, New York.
Notebook
These photographs [in attached pdf] and pages from my sketchbooks arc presented more or less in chronological order and deal with inflating sound sculptures and sound performance/exhibitions I have made since 1967.
There arc two distinct and quite different groups of sound sculptures. The first group was presented variously under the titles "The Wah Chang Box Works Assyrian Air Fair," "Mothers Mechanical Wonderful Wah Wah," "Wonderful Wah Wah," etc., and consisted of sculptures which generated reed sounds and in some cases simple escaping air and motor sounds.
The second group dating from late in 1969 and still being added to is called "Wah Wah" (being the name of each piece as well as the group as well as the performance) and consists of sculptures generating excited columns of air. The more mysterious airy sounds of the Wah Wah seem to defy identification and placement hovering near your ear or in your head or just past you beckoning you to a place of privilege.
Sound is an integral part of my sculpture at this time, shaping space at least as effectively as any visual elements.
A commentary follows on pages 63-67 see pdf here.

[Source: Sound Sculpture, John Grayson, 1975]

David Jacob's sound sculptures inspired by Kaufmann's Trumpeter from 1810.

See Jacob's Pneumatic "Drawing" machine here.

See other Pneumatic, Fluidic, and Inflatable robots here.