Ferromancy: Conjuring Resonant Memories
Installation and performance June 19-20, 2026 -- The Tank Center for Sonic Arts
Conceived and developed by Neal Johnson and Alan Watts.
Project Description
Like all physical objects, the monumental steel cylinder known as The Tank resonates when stimulated. Arcane electronic devices bring the whole structure to life as a single instrument. They summon the Tank’s own voice to tell a tale of its past, present, and future.
Mechanical solenoids and their custom-built motor drivers strike the Tank’s surface under human or automated control. Transducers disseminate sonic energy that induces structural vibrations across eight audio channels, so that the entire Tank becomes a "speaker.” These devices, magnetically affixed to the walls in a hemispheric array, produce an extraordinary ambisonic auditory experience.
While testing our instruments we listened carefully to the Tank's response to or sonic provocations. We came to understand the Tank as a resonant body. its distinctive voice is continually reshaped by its material nature, its shape and size, and ambient temperature and humidity. In return, the tank communicated in clear terms how it would -- or would not -- reciprocate.
And so we began to wonder. If the Tank told a tale of its past and present, what details might it share? If asked to forecast the future, what would it see in store for itself? For all of us?
This performance system evolved to facilitate a telling of the Tank’s own saga, of primordial birth, modern human endeavors, and entropic decay. A “sound cycle” in four parts:
-- The Time Before Time
-- Purpose-driven Life
-- A New Lease
-- Long After (Entropy’s Delight)
Components
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Arduino
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Solenoids
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Transducers
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Max
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Ableton Live
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Synthesized and recorded sounds and effects
photos by Neal Johnson