Music Box

2005

Jin-Yo Mok (RK)
Gicheol Lee (RK)

Old music boxes, beloved souvenirs of days gone by when they were a fixture in every little girl’s room, inspired the two artists to create their “Music Box” installation. Write your name or draw a picture with the mouse, and just listen to the music that intonates as a result!

The drawn patterns and forms light up on the music box’s oversized rotating drum. Now, when you turn the crank, the music plays. In this way, all kinds of graphics and drawings can be transformed into music.

The installation is based on the principle of the mechanical music box, but the pins that normally stud the surface of a music box’s rotating drum are replaced by light-emitting diodes and its vibrating metal tongues by photo sensors. The installation visitor uses a mouse to draw a shape on the monitor screen, and the shape is then illuminated on the LED-studded drum. When the user turns the crank, each sensor that is struck by a ray of light from an LED produces a sound. Drawings can also be input online at http://playmusicbox.com; if so, they are stored to a databank, and are then available both on- and offline.

“Music Box” investigates the technological transition from the analog to the digital age. In doing so, the age-old principle of the music box is transcribed for play in the digital world.