Glass, water, hydrophone, pumps, tubes, sound system

Buloklok, assembled with glass sculptures that emit air bubbles in amplified water, is imagined as a timepiece that counts a multitude of breathing patterns of different animals. Adopting Sauvage’s performative practice of using cowrie shells as musical instruments that produce bubbles sound, the installation works as an aquatic wind instrument automated by air pumps. The sculptures bring out bubbles from their “mouths” each time the upper part of their cavities are filled with air, generating varied notes and rhythms depending on the size of their cavities and the air pressure.

Buloklok joins Sauvage’s longtime motif, clepsydra – water clock, which is considered to be the oldest time-keeping instrument. The study of clock history shows that, until relatively recently, time was elastic and defined by observing celestial bodies with seasonal and geographical variations. Buloklok reflects on these temporalities that are fluid, empirical and intimate just as every living being has its own breathing velocities, frequencies and sequences. 

Glass sculptures are blown by glassblowers, Takashi Hamada and Silicybine and the first iterations of Buloklok are supported by Sonic Acts, Amsterdam, and co-supported by The 5th Floor, Tokyo.

Installation view at The 5th Floor, Tokyo, 2022. Photos by Naoki Takehisa.