by Elaine King
Mattress Factory
500 Sampsonia Way, Pittsburgh
Through March 2026
Marc Vilanova’s Ground Frictions is a three part site-specific sound-art installation on view in the main building of the Mattress Factory. Vilanava is known as an interdisciplinary artist who merges in his idiosyncratic productions art, science, light, sound, nature, and technology. Visibly he constructs a form of sculpture that requires both viewers’ participation as well as patience in order to hear the one-of a kind sounds being emitted from within his constructions. Marc Vilanova approaches listening as an individual experience. He does not compose with sound, rather examines how sound frequencies at the edges of perception can influence cognitive and sensory systems.
During his residency at the Mattress Factory, Vilanova became very interested and engaged in Pittsburgh’s surrounding region, especially the coalmines because of their industrial past. He visited mines in the Appalachian area and using geophones (scientific instruments that detect these low frequencies in the earth) he recorded underground tremors and sounds from subterranean environments near active gas wells in Western Pennsylvania.
The three distinct works are displayed on the fourth floor of the Mattress Factory in a space with blacked walls and covered windows. The audio frequencies Vilanova previously recorded outside of Pittsburgh are played within each piece however the timbre is not apparent when a one first approaches the work. According to Vilanova, he creates “distinctive spaces to foster listening and reflection that challenge the boundaries of sensory knowledge.” A viewer must become totally immersed in the setting and judiciously engage in the process of listening so to experience each elusive auditory construction.
When entering the first of the darkened rooms one first encounters a suspended array of glass tubes that are reminiscent of elongated Octopus arms with holes at each end. The glistening structure activates the gallery space depicting multiple shadows on its walls and floor. The audible vibrations from this work are extremely subtle and cannot be experienced unless one moves very close to each glass tendon to listen to the almost inaudible vibrations. The textured glass tubes appear to function as once did old-fashioned ear trumpets.
Curved weathered steel structure operating as a listening chamber made by Vilanova
Photo by Tom Little
The second and adjacent structure is a curved, rolled weathered steel form that operates as a listening chamber. Inside one sees elongated vertical fibers that brush against the worn metal surface. This interior space is carefully lit, accenting the industrial sensibility of the materials that emit trembling sounds throughout the surrounding setting. Of the three constructions, this work is the most dramatic and successful because the chamber allows a viewer to overtly experience the vibrational sounds and the raw materials of the work emotionally reverberates with the steel industry that has shaped Pittsburgh from its economy and culture to its identity as a city.
In another nearby darkened gallery one encounters the third piece, a ceiling to floor vertical cascading arrangement of illuminated white fiber optic twines. Each of the strings is affixed to a speaker and the threads constrict, vacillate, and tremble in response to the underground recordings Vilanova has attached to the cords. The resonance from the speakers is incapable of producing audible tones; it is the vibrations that create movement in the hanging luminescent strings. This is a subtle creation with flickering lights that dim and shimmer. Viewers are encouraged to linger in this space— to walk around the work or to lie on the carpets—so to become completely absorbed in the calm quiver and pulsating choreography of this sensory presentation.
Despite the aesthetic elegance of each of Vilanova’s well-crafted components of this installation, Grounded Frictions raises several significant questions. I kept asking myself how relevant are the artist’s stated intentions and his concerns with nature and the earth? As explained on the wall card, “The work emerges from an exploration of signals deep within the Earth. Vilanova focuses on infrasound: vibrations between 0.1 and 20 Hz that fall below the threshold of human hearing but are fundamental for planetary and biological processes.” Without reading this, one would never perceive this idea when experiencing each of the fabrications in Grounded Frictions. Observing visitors to this installation, very few bothered to linger or to read the wall card.
Perhaps the success of this installation hails from Vilanova’s primary goal for producing such sound pieces. “I want to pose questions, but I don’t have the answers to them. That’s for scientists or for environmentalists. The experience of my work is very sensual, not just something to see and read the wall text and then go to the next thing. You perceive the piece with your body, and you can connect with it even if you don’t read anything on the wall.”[1] I am in agreement with this concept! Knowing an artist’s incentives and background can augment one’s understanding of the art and lead to a deeper insight of the artwork. Nevertheless the artwork once placed in a setting ultimately exists autonomously of the artist and should elicit its own meanings and interpretations.
[1] Emma Riva, “Marc Vilanova Brings Mystical Sound to the Mattress Factory”, Table Magazine, March 6, 2025