Idea
Separate sound streams from San Diego and Weimar: a collection of sounds or motifs that are being manipulated or improvised on (natural, mechanized... sounds) >> mixtures and or dialogue.
Movement within this (scenic?) installation is being tracked and controls the convergence / divergence of sounds creating new sonic structures (> convolution). Simutaenously controlling light, which guides through space, giving directions or hints on upcoming sonic events (rules and changes).
Light and sound play with expectations: creating tension in ambiguous virtual spaces between seeing and hearing, rather than visualizing / sonifying each other. Rules of dramatization / interaction change in time, shaped by the visitors actions.
Possible other elements: temperature (> light colors), corporeal hearing, scent (e.g. eucalyptus).
Experiential Description
Upon entering the room, a quiet din can be heard. These sounds are almost undefinable, owing to the nature of their material, their quiet volume and density. Four squares of light can be seen on the ground, in four colors. A participant who passes through one of the shafts of light triggers the play back of a sound, (either natural or mechanical, originating from Weimar or San Diego). The participant's trajectory is then followed, affecting the queued sample. The direction and speed of their motion toward another square of light determines the amount of convolusion, and which sample is selected as the multiplier. The original square of light begins to change color in reflection of the convolusion applied to "its" attributed sample. As the participant moves around the room, the samples, represented by the squares of light and color, are convolved with the previously triggered sound. The squares of light reflect the sonic mixing of characteristics through the alteration of their color and perhaps their lighting level. If a participant stops moving altogether or leaves, the sonic environment slowly returns to the neutral din of sound.
It is unclear at this moment how multiple participants can be accommodated, both experientially and to prevent an explosion of material and processing.
It is also unclear is speed should be the controller for the amount of convolusion, or if it should be a strict locational measure. If the project is pursued as an installation, I think a more specific, location-based convolusion would better instigate participation. However, if performative, speed would be a more interesting paramater to use, as it would be more subtle and naturally controlled through dance and movement.
Perhaps the din at the outset could be a quadraphonic layer of the two kinds of sounds, with mechanical sound layer coming from below and a natural sound layer hovering above. The triggered sounds could seem to float between the two, or perhaps the triggered sound could emerge from the respective layer, subtracting the indicated sound from the texture. Once all four zones have been triggered, the din would be completely absorbed by the "triggered" sounds. As stasis returns, the sounds float back to their respective layer, or perhaps the sounds would return to the wrong layer, ending the piece with Weimar sounds together and San Diego sounds together.
Additionally, we could play with different kinds of opposing sounds. One thought would be one of language - convolving english and german speech or perhaps speaking and singing - Or even pop songs or live feeds of spaces producing unique ambient sounds.
Technical Requirements
- Kinect controller x2 to produce a 3D understanding of motion and speed
- LED lighting units with color variance
- surround sound set-up (quadrophonic?)
Participants
anybody feel welcome!
Links
- Maryanne Amacher: Headrhythm & Plaything > otoacoustic emissions.
- Jaroslaw Kapuscinski: works: seeing-hearing
- Georg Klein: TRASA warszawa-berlin
- Kaffe Matthews: Music for Bodies
- Randy H. Yau, Scott Arford: Infrasonics live in Paris
Literature
- Caclin, Anne et al.: Tactile "capture" of audition
- Hope, Cat: Silence As Stillness? Sonic Experiences in Art using Infrasonics
- Ouzounian, Gascia: Embodied Sound: Aural Architectures and the Body
- Schroeder, Franziska: Bodily Instruments and Instrumental Bodies: Critical Views on the Relation of Body and Instrument in Technologically Informed Performance Environments