The Jukebox Project is a result of my visit to Johannesburg. I have discussed places, events and "things worth hearing" with almost everybody I met. I recorded hours and hours of interviews and sound-material, noises, situations and processes in the public acoustic sphere which contains moments of great musical quality, structures and shapes, rhythms and tunes.

I continued by assembling the material around a number of site-specific subjects such as mining, religion, security, markets etc., then started shaping pieces following the tendencies and directions inherent in the material itself.

When I first noticed the jukebox in a café, it struck me as typically South African with its steel case, safety grid, pad-lock and sturdy appearance. It signals nostalgic charm and high security at the same time - a mechanical toy equipped with sophisticated technology to play CDs.

I decided on the jukebox as a vehicle to exhibit my sound-art: a ready-made-object that offers interactive access to my soundtracks.

The impersonal, factory-made shell contrasts with the highly personal character of the musical works. Yet, the public character of the jukebox corresponds with the public sound sphere from which the sound material was drawn. The process of composing and collaging this material is freely associative. Its context is my personal background as a musician, the tradition of predominantly European twentieth-century composed and experimental music. The displayed CD-covers are made from my own photographs. They vaguely suggest what the corresponding piece is associated with.

The visitor operates the jukebox by deciding on a soundtrack-number relating to a particular image, puts in a coin and presses the buttons to start the performance.

The project is part of my work as a visiting artist at the Wits School of Arts in Johannesburg in the course of the MAPS Program (Master of Art in Public Sphere) at Hochschule für Gestaltung und Kunst Lucerne, Switzerland.

Artist’s Biography

Petra Ronner is a musician and sound artist based in Zürich, Switzerland. She appears as a pianist, runs a concert series www.gnombaden.ch and teaches sound in the context of design and scenography. Her latest work was an extended artistic intervention at Museum Langmatt in Baden www.langmatt.ch. Her latest recordings appeared at www.vexer.ch

She was visiting artist at Wits School of Arts in Johannesburg from early October and is presently on residency with the Pro Helvetia Swiss Arts Council in Cape Town.