Ingrid Engarås - born 1968 in Gothemburg, Sweden

- lives in Stockholm and considers Fylkingen to be her home scene. Has during the years been active with mailart, performance, conceptual and visual art, but mainly as the organizer for more or less underground cultural events, concepts and social situations.

Her rare concerts with Vibradisc started in 1999 and since then both solo concerts and collaborative experimentations have been performed. Vibradisc is the only sound art piece by Ingrid Engarås which has been released on cd so far. (Earlier works are of less importance as they served their specific purposes as soundtracks for performances.) A Vibradisc CD released 2002 by Firework Edition Records is still around.

Vibradisc - an instrument invented by Ingrid Engarås, made for carefully selected live concert situations. A motor generates vibrations against a huge copper plate which in turn generates its own sound. Its deep and flowing bass frequencies trigger the listener to undergo individual experiences which may be comfortable, strange, erotic and rumbling. The playing technique is closely related to automatic writing. As the instrument can, (and should) never be fully controlled, the playing sessions are always subject to random forces. All aspects of the concert situation, such as the architecture, atmosphere, audience and the instrumentalist's setting, impact on and interact with Vibradisc. Every playing session or concert is unique and can never be predicted. Nor can the listener's experience be controlled. The sound of Vibradisc is to be used in each listener's very own personal way.

"As I experience, it's not me playing the instrument, the Vibradisc demands me to play it when the situation is right.

As much as a concept sounding, the Vibradisc can also be considered a low tech tool: Copper corresponding with the planet Venus, corresponding with emotions. Copper being a poisonous metal, reacting, oxidizing in contact with oxygen. Copper being the metal leading heat the fastest, leading electricity. A metal alive, useful but unpredictable. Who knows what it might lead, how it can react? I work the copper plate with a small motor, found from an old muscle massaging machine, called Pifco, it must be from the 1950 something. The vibrating motor is applied to the copper with a rubber “head” on the machine. The Vibradisc produces sounds by the vibrations but can never be fully controlled. When playing I enter a trance state and experience the Vibradisc doing its concert with me as an assisting medium. The situation can be called a sound performance, a ritual, or a transmission. I prefer to keep those occasions rare. In most locations I would need some basic technical backup for giving a concert: A microphone and a sound system suitable for deep bass frequencies, engineered by someone collaborative with an open mind.

Networking is essential for my creativity.

I was an active member at Fylkingen during 1997 and 2002, which gave me a chance to experiment with the organization of events focusing on the mixing and presentation of the creativity of other artists. My friends encouraged me to work with my own art and so Vibradisc came into being. Since I became a parent my focus has changed and the term networking I now define as local community building, especially with other single mothers. I do not promote myself as an artist or my concept of Vibradisc in any active way but if invited to give a concert/sound performance I might be interested if the location and situation is right. Art is something I do in my every day life, not for my living."

Links:

www.fireworkeditionrecords.com