← A. Inventions, No. 42
Leopoldus Rademacher (c. 1665–1721)
Clavichordium Circularis
1706–1711
Walnut case with shellac finish, soundboard in beech with inked parchment attached, keys in casein and polished bog oak, copper and brass hardware. 14¼ × 14⅛ × 3⅞". Collection of the author.
I know that National Wheel Week doesn’t start until next Monday, but I just couldn’t wait to post this set of circular-themed instruments. This is the fourth of my five sets of eccentric keyboards from the court of Joseph I, created by the workshop of Leopoldus Friedrich Rademacher (c. 1665–1721). These are mid-career works, again exploring Rademacher’s interest in alternative tonalities, culminating in the Alles-Dur (‘all sharps’) keyboard below (fig. 5), which may have been created for the chorale setting of Bach bwv 3054 (‘Mein Gott, er ist ganz Daumen!’)
Published January 21, 2023. Copyright © 2023 Jonathan Hoefler.
About
The objects in the Apocryphal Inventions series are technical chimeras, intentional misdirections coaxed from the generative AI platform Midjourney. Instead of iterating on the system’s early drafts to create ever more accurate renderings of real-world objects, creator Jonathan Hoefler subverted the system to refine and intensify its most intriguing misunderstandings, pushing the software to create beguiling, aestheticized nonsense. Some images have been retouched to make them more plausible; others have been left intact, appearing exactly as generated by the software. The accompanying descriptions, written by the author, offer fictitious backstories rooted in historical fact, which suggest how each of these inventions might have come to be.
These images represent some of AI’s most intriguing answers to confounding questions, an inversion of the more pressing debate in which it is humanity that must confront the difficult and existential questions posed by artificial intelligence.
Previously:
No. 41. Leyden Jars
Next:
No. 43. Film Transition Machines
