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class="summary_details"> <div class="sd_top"> <a class="small" href="/web/20111006190308/http://www.gizmag.com/urbantransport/" style="float: left; ">URBAN TRANSPORT</a> </div> <h2>Auditory artist creates a 'sound tank'</h2> <div class="summary_details_left"> <p>By <a href="/web/20111006190308/http://www.gizmag.com/author/ben-coxworth/" rel="author">Ben Coxworth</a></p> <p><em>10:51 September 22, 2011</em></p> </div> <div class="summary_details_right"> <p><img src="/web/20111006190308im_/http://www.gizmag.com/images/icons/splashyIcons/comments.png" alt=""/> <a href="#comments">5 Comments</a> </p> <p><img src="/web/20111006190308im_/http://www.gizmag.com/images/icons/splashyIcons/image_modernist.png" alt=""/> <a href="/web/20111006190308/http://www.gizmag.com/artist-creates-sound-tank/19918/picture/143250/">3 Pictures</a></p> </div> </div> <div id="hero_box" style="width: 530px;"> <a id="hero_link" href="/web/20111006190308/http://www.gizmag.com/artist-creates-sound-tank/19918/picture/143250/"> <img src="https://web.archive.org/web/20111006190308im_/http://images.gizmag.com/hero/soundtank.jpg" title="Artist Nik Nowak has converted a Japanese mini-dumper into a 'sound tank' that pumps out 4..." width="530" height="297" alt="Artist Nik Nowak has converted a Japanese mini-dumper into a 'sound tank' that pumps out 4..." border="0"/></a><div class="pic_caption"> <p>Artist Nik Nowak has converted a Japanese mini-dumper into a 'sound tank' that pumps out 4,000 watts of audio</p> <strong><a href="/web/20111006190308/http://www.gizmag.com/artist-creates-sound-tank/19918/picture/143250/" class="orange">Image Gallery</a> (3 images)</strong> </div> <div class="clear_both"></div> </div> <div class="article_body"> <div id="top_unit"></div> <script type="text/javascript" language="JavaScript"> </script> <script type="text/javascript" language="JavaScript" src="https://web.archive.org/web/20111006190308js_/http://pagead2.googlesyndication.com/pagead/show_ads.js"></script> <p><!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-html40/loose.dtd"> <html><body><p>Do you like car stereos with good, thumping bass? I mean, do you really, <em>really</em> like them? If so, you might be appreciative of "Tank," a creation by Berlin artist Nik Nowak. The fully-functioning tracked vehicle sports six 12-inch mid-range drivers, three 18-inch subwoofers, four tweeters, and pumps out 4,000 watts of gut-wobbling sound - just think of it as an acoustic assault vehicle.</p> <p>Nowak, who is a big fan of bass-driven electronic music, started with a used Japanese mini-dumper, which he bought in an internet auction in 2008. He took it apart then reassembled it with a lot of added bits and pieces, to create a vehicle that could bring high-decibel music to outdoor sites. The intact dumping mechanism allows Tank's wall of speakers to be hydraulically raised and aligned when it's ready to start a performance. The frequency ranges are widely spaced, so that Nik can easily achieve the right mix.</p> <p></p><div style="width: 530px; height: 397px" class="article_img"><a href="/web/20111006190308/http://www.gizmag.com/artist-creates-sound-tank/19918/picture/143251/" target="_blank"><img src="https://web.archive.org/web/20111006190308im_/http://images.gizmag.com/inline/soundtank-1.jpg" width="530"></a></div></p> <p>Unfortunately, he has discovered that slow, steel-tracked vehicles such as his aren't allowed on most urban roads. Still, there are some venues that it can get to, and it has allowed him to make the statement that he wanted to make.</p> <p>"With the ghetto blaster or boombox, music was carried into the streets and parks of the cities," he explained. "Today, things have dramatically changed. The concept of sharing music in the park is now realized in cyberspace in the form of anonymous exchanges on internet platforms. My objects are, in a sense, a reaction to this increasing anonymization of life taking place by dwelling in virtual space - a utopian enterprise of setting something against this virtual world by bringing steel, wood and deep bass to the fore."</p> <p>The video below shows Tank being driven. Other videos, along with images of some of Nowak's other sonic sculptures, can be seen on <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20111006190308/http://www.niknowak.de/" target="_blank">his website</a>.</p> <p>Source: <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20111006190308/http://www.designspotter.com/news-details/2011/09/niknowak.html" target="_blank">DesignSpotter</a></body></html></p>  <div class="article_video"><iframe width="530" height="298" src="https://web.archive.org/web/20111006190308if_/http://www.youtube.com/embed/hgJvdo4EQ4w" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe> </div> <div id="bottom_unit"> <script type="text/javascript" language="JavaScript"> </script> <script type="text/javascript" language="JavaScript" src="https://web.archive.org/web/20111006190308js_/http://pagead2.googlesyndication.com/pagead/show_ads.js"></script> </div> </div>  <span class="title">Share</span> <div id="article_share" class="dotsontop"> <span class="as_button"><a 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id="comments">User Comments (5)</span> <div class="dotsontop" id="comment_dots">  <div id="comment-81586" class="a_comment"> <p>He will just have to trailer it close to the destination. </p> <img src="/web/20111006190308im_/http://www.gizmag.com/images/comment.png" alt="comment"> <span class="name">Slowburn</span> <span class="date">- September 22, 2011 @ 12:40 pm PDT</span> <div class="clear_both"></div> </div> <div id="comment-81709" class="a_comment"> <p>Nice work - but I am always into covering up NICE EXPENSIVE NEW speakers with some kind of protective screening - because of accidental, careless, drunk people putting them selves or things into the paper cones. </p> <p></p> <p>Going along with the tank them, I'd put steel slats edgeways across them - like grills on military trucks, tanks, that cover the radiatirs, intakes, vents etc., and it looks heavy duty and it is heavy duty. </p> <img src="/web/20111006190308im_/http://www.gizmag.com/images/comment.png" alt="comment"> <span class="name">Mr Stiffy</span> <span class="date">- September 22, 2011 @ 07:47 pm PDT</span> <div class="clear_both"></div> </div> <div id="comment-81832" class="a_comment"> <p>I think the sound of the engine is better than the "music" it puts out! especially cranking at the start!!! </p> <p></p> <p>Can someone tell Mr Nowak that he'll have to put some shock-absorbing mounts under the amp and synth otherwise the vibration when traveling will kill them... and maybe change the tracks for rubber-based ones, I'm sure the dumper manufacturer can help! :-) </p> <img src="/web/20111006190308im_/http://www.gizmag.com/images/comment.png" alt="comment"> <span class="name">agulesin</span> <span class="date">- September 23, 2011 @ 08:12 am PDT</span> <div class="clear_both"></div> </div> <div id="comment-81985" class="a_comment"> <p>Can't wait to have that roll up next to me a traffic light... </p> <img src="/web/20111006190308im_/http://www.gizmag.com/images/comment.png" alt="comment"> <span class="name">Burnerjack</span> <span class="date">- September 23, 2011 @ 03:42 pm PDT</span> <div class="clear_both"></div> </div> <div id="comment-82297" class="a_comment"> <p>Maybe add some high output lasers to the mix </p> <img src="/web/20111006190308im_/http://www.gizmag.com/images/comment.png" alt="comment"> <span class="name">3razer </span> <span class="date">- September 26, 2011 @ 12:23 pm PDT</span> <div class="clear_both"></div> </div> </div> <span class="title">Post a Comment</span> <div class="dotsontop" id="comment_form_div"> <div id="comment_form" data-article="19918"> <div id="comments_login"> <form action="" style="clear: both; padding-top: 0px;" name="login_form" id="login_form" onsubmit="return false;"> <p><strong>Login with your gizmag account:</strong></p> <p id="login_status"></p> <label for="email">Email</label><input type="text" class="text" name="email" id="email" value=""/><br/><br/> <label for="password">Password</label><input type="password" class="text" 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