Swiss artist Zimoun’s sound installation in Dottikon, Switzerland

The art installation is a fine way of exploring new applications and technologies, dovetailing performance with design. Over the past few decades, the Swiss artist Zimoun has built a number of large-scale installations, often in close collaboration with architects and engineers. Best known for works that repurpose prosaic materials like cardboard and cotton in orderly patterns, the artist sets his constructions in motion with specially designed compact DC motors, the actions of which create esoteric noises.
Zimoun's latest project in Dottikon, Switzerland, was developed with the architect Hannes Zweifel, a longtime collaborator. Inside a vast 1950s storage tank once used to house the industrial solvent toluene, they rigged up a system of 329 tiny motors with wires connected to 329 cotton balls. The motors cause the balls to jiggle, twitch and bounce off the surface of the tank. The result is a hypnotic loop of noise reverberating around the white space.
The 13m tank stands on the edge of a chemical plant in town, its industrial exterior giving no hint to the activity - and cacophany - within. There are no official opening hours, though spectators are welcome during working hours.
The 13m tank stands on the edge of a chemical plant, its industrial exterior giving no hint to the activity within
Inside, he and architect Hannes Zweifel rigged up a system of 329 tiny motors with wires connected to 329 cotton balls
The motors cause the balls to jiggle, twitch and bounce off the surface of the tank. Watch the video to see the installation in full swing
The result is a hypnotic loop of noise reverberating around the white space
The friction between household material and industrial surface creates an esoteric noise
The materials are applied in orderly patterns that make visual sense of the cacophony
Receive our daily digest of inspiration, escapism and design stories from around the world direct to your inbox.
Jonathan Bell has written for Wallpaper* magazine since 1999, covering everything from architecture and transport design to books, tech and graphic design. He is now the magazine’s Transport and Technology Editor. Jonathan has written and edited 15 books, including Concept Car Design, 21st Century House, and The New Modern House. He is also the host of Wallpaper’s first podcast.
-
A Swedish scooter blends Teenage Engineering’s aesthetic with accessible electric mobility
The EPA1 Scooter is the first product from mobility start-up Vässla, an assured and flexible design shaped in conjunction with TE to assist everyday urban mobility
-
Discover Canadian modernist Daniel Evan White’s pitch-perfect homes
Canadian architect Daniel Evan White (1933-2012) had a gift for using the landscape to create extraordinary homes; revisit his story in an article from the Wallpaper* archives (first published in 2011)
-
The standout shows of Milan Fashion Week Men’s S/S 2026: Dolce & Gabbana to Paul Smith
Wallpaper* picks the very best of Milan Fashion Week Men’s S/S 2026, from a Dolce & Gabbana pyjama party to Paul Smith’s travel-inspired Milan debut
-
12 things not to miss at Art Basel 2025
Art Basel is bigger and better than ever. Avoid overwhelm, follow our definite what-to-see guide at this year's event (19-22 June)
-
Switzerland’s best art exhibitions to see in 2025
Art fans, here’s your bucket list of the standout exhibitions to see in Switzerland in 2025, exploring compelling themes and diverse media
-
Out of office: what the Wallpaper* editors have been doing this week
A snowy Swiss Alpine sleepover, a design book fest in Milan, and a night with Steve Coogan in London – our editors' out-of-hours adventures this week
-
‘Happy birthday Louise Parker II’: enter the world of Roe Ethridge
Roe Ethridge speaks of his concurrent Gagosian exhibitions, in Gstaad and London, touching on his fugue approach to photography, fridge doors, and his longstanding collaborator Louise Parker
-
What to see at Art Basel 2024, as the fair arrives at its hometown
Art Basel 2024, the fair of all fairs, runs 13-16 June, with 285 international exhibitors and a long list of side shows and projects
-
Dan Flavin’s fluorescent lights light up Basel
‘Dedications in Lights’ celebrates Dan Flavin’s conceptual works, at Kunstmuseum Basel
-
Space for My Body: Anu Põder’s retrospective opens in Switzerland
Estonian artist Anu Põder is celebrated by Switzerland’s Muzeum Susch in an exhibition curated by Cecilia Alemani
-
Bally Foundation’s new Lake Lugano headquarters is an art-filled paradise
The Bally Foundation inaugurates its new headquarters in a 1930s villa overlooking the majestic Lake Lugano, Switzerland with the group show ‘Un Lac Inconnu’ (An Unknown Lake)