If The Shoe Fits

By: Peggy Nelson
February 8, 2011

It’s perhaps not who the shoe fits, but what.

Intrepid cybernauts, if you’re going to hike the uncanny valley, you’ll need the right kind of footwear. Luckily, new media artist Arno Farbe can suggest some models; in his 2009 piece Les Souliers, disembodied yet mechanized shoes march and scrape the floor in time to a MIDI score. But it’s not about the rhythm, which is not meant to unhoof Astaire. It’s about the action. To see what I mean, watch as well as listen:


[Les Souliers, Arno Farbe, 2009]

Perhaps the sound has more to do with the shoe’s occupant, than with the shoe. Farbe has created an uncanny artwork: a sound piece that needs to be seen.

Thanks to Emilio Gomariz’ excellent Triangulation blog for the link.

Categories

Art, Uncanny