Can you have too much of a good thing? Well it depends what exactly you mean by this. If, by a ‘good thing’ you mean ‘Africa by Toto’ and by too much you mean ‘played in a desert for eternity’, then yes, I think we can say that you can have too much of a good thing.
Well, one man’s reasonable piece of advice is another man’s art installation and that other man is one Max Siedentopf. Mr. Siedentopf, a German-Namibian artist has created the exhibition, installed in the Namib desert.
Why has this happened?
To who is this aimed?
Is it reasonable to subject a a whole host of nearby aestivating desert mammals to the equivalent of repetitive sound torture?
These are but some of the questions that this news may reasonably inspire in you.
The song will be played through a set of six speakers connected to an iPod which has only one song on it – Africa by Toto, obviously. A set of solar-powered batteries will keep the whole set-up going for as long as possible.
The song, released in 1982, remains enduringly popular and was in fact the most streamed song of 2017.
He chose the materials used to support the speakers, and the speakers themselves, based on their alleged durability hoping that it will play for ‘eternity’ – discounting the possibility that some group of desert animals will be forced to gain enough sentience and digital dexterity to operate an iPod so as to turn it off. Though he said that he’s sure “the harsh environment of the desert will devour the installation eventually”.
He said that he wanted to “pay the song the ultimate homage and physically exhibit ‘Africa’ in Africa.”
He went on to say that “Some [Namibians] love it and some say it’s probably the worst sound installation ever. I think that’s a great compliment.”
