Emile Van Helleputte

Emile Van Helleputte (*1992)

Photograph by Celine Aernoudt

Emile Van Helleputte's practice can be situated where the field of sound and visual arts converge. As a trained jazz musician, he gradually began to apply conceptual strategies, developing his musical practice into a visual one. Unsound Body was a pivotal work in this process as it was the first piece to use visual composition as a means of creating sound.

Photograph by Ruben Wyttenbach

Following a methodical choreography, eleven everyday objects are placed one after the other on the instrument. The only audible sound comes from the mounting of the objects on the instrument. The double bass itself is never played conventionally; the movements involved for preparing the instrument become the playing of the instrument.