SONIC DIMENSIONS
The exhibition explored sound as a spatial medium and sort to match a rich sonic environment with a compelling visual and physical experience. The challenge of the project was to address the sonic limitations of peripherally located loudspeakers while creating a language of sculptural form that was aesthetically strong, acoustically transparent, demountable, and reconfigurable. The solution had to act as a flexible sonic exhibition design tool that supported the prototyping and delivery of the sonic art works in a range of simple and complex audio formats.
Initially digital prototypes of the speaker enclosures were developed inside an interactive model of the gallery to create a series of source-listener scenarios that lead to the integration of sonic arrangements used in the exhibition. Flexibility was required for this design as the sonic artworks for the exhibition were in multiple audio formats (stereo to 16 channels) and the final speaker locations needed to be resolved in the space.
The final system configuration enabled the extension of the practice of exhibition design by using sound as an integrative, cohering sensory component of visitor experiences within the exhibition space. Through its integration of structural components and standard loudspeaker cabinets, it enabled unique spatial listening experiences while maintaining a visual connection to the surrounds. It allowed interlocking virtual sound fields (planes, cubes and rings) to be created, through which the listener could walk and sit.
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