Electronic media often appear immaterial. In fact, they consist of resources, surfaces, and mechanical processes. Stephanie Castonguay works precisely in this field of tension. For “soft_cuts,” she has developed an unusual setup consisting of hacked turntables that have been expanded with Playmobil elements and equipped with additional tonearms. These play fragile bio vinyls, whose material slowly disintegrates and breaks into pieces. The records are not simply played, but rather run through tentatively. Running directions change, fragments shift, and the durability of the materials remains uncertain. This process creates a web of odd rhythms, mechanical loops, and improvised structures. At the same time, the apparatus itself becomes visible. Reflective surfaces, rotating arms, and moving fragments create a visual score of mechanical movement on special screens.

Castonguay thus shifts the focus to the sound object. It is not the abstraction of sound that is in the foreground, but its material creation. Groove, needle, and surface become the actual musical event. In this return to the physical dimension of sound, her work is in line with current positions in experimental sound art, in which devices, materials, and processes themselves become instruments.