photo: ute langkafel; location: haus der kulturen der welt, berlin 2009

 mp3 excerpt

foot pumps are pressed together and “conserved” with adhesive tape until this state is abruptly terminated by the pressure of the steel springs inside the bellows. the time point of “de-compression”, that is, when the tape tears, varies between 10 minutes and many hours. the foot pump’s air inlet are sealed with a rubber ball to slow down the process of decompression to see the bellows expand in slow motion. The polystyrene hemispheres attached to the  sides increase the resulting friction and generate two superposed pulse strings. 
duration version 1: approx. 1h, version 2: some days