The first two works in the Coincidence Engines series are subtitled One: Universal Peoples Republic Time, and Two: Approximate demarcator of constellations in other cosmos. These two installations approach the idea of “co-incident” events from complementary perspectives. Coincidence Engine One assembles a large number of unsynchronized clocks whose combined ticking sounds produce an unusual and intriguingly organic sonic environment. Coincidence Engine Two develops a sophisticated synchronization control and amplification system around a group of specially-modified clocks that enables the artists to articulate audio-visual compositions by programming and sequencing the clocks’ ticking behaviour.
The notion of concrete sound, and the specificity of the listener’s relationship to sound sources in space are central to [The User]’s approach. Beyond being sound-producing instruments, the Coincidence Engines installations are free-standing, quasi-architectural constructions that are integral to the viewer-listener’s absorption in fields of sonorous expression. The work’s hybrid, interdisciplinary approach is simultaneously engaging and sophisticated. Coincidence Engines’ potent experiential qualities provide multiple points for audiences’ interactions with an innovative form of contemporary cultural expression.