INSTRUMENTS / STEIM WORKS
Between 1993 and 1994, Arthur Clay developed a series of experimental hand-operated controller instruments at STEIM, the Studio for Electro-Instrumental Music in Amsterdam.
These works include Air-Bow, a virtual string instrument, and Spaceball, an intermedia controller for the simultaneous manipulation of sound and image in live electronic and video performance. The instruments belong to the context of STEIM’s research into gestural interfaces, performer-controlled electronics and new musical instruments.
Rather than treating technology as an external system, these works focus on the body of the performer. Hand movement, pressure, rotation and spatial gesture become compositional material, allowing electronic sound and image to be shaped through physical action.
AIR-BOW
A virtual string instrument developed at STEIM, Amsterdam, 1993–1994
Air-Bow is a gestural performance interface that simulates the action of bowing a string instrument without the use of physical strings.
Through spatial hand movement and sensor-based control, the performer shapes sound in real time. Bow-like gestures are translated into electronic musical expression, allowing continuous modulation of tone, dynamics and articulation.
The work investigates how instrumental expression can be transferred from a traditional acoustic model into an electronic performance environment. It treats gesture not as a trigger, but as a continuous and expressive musical force.
SPACEBALL
An intermedia performance controller developed at STEIM, Amsterdam, 1993–1994
Spaceball is a hand-operated spherical interface designed to control sound and image simultaneously in live electronic performance.
By manipulating the ball’s position, rotation and pressure, the performer dynamically shapes audiovisual parameters. The instrument creates a direct gestural link between physical movement, electronic sound and live video.
The work extends the idea of the musical instrument into an intermedia environment, where a single performative object can organise both sonic and visual expression in real time.