SPATIAL EXPERIENCE
The exhibition was designed as an immersive experience in which the audience could inhabit sound recordings of landscapes from around the world. The complex speaker system was arranged to offer dynamic spatial compositions as the visitor moved through the sonic field. Within this static arrangement of physical structures, the position and direction of the speakers created different immersive zones. Individual sound artist works were interpreted by the system differently and as sound is a time-based medium the sonic figures in the space were constantly shifting, creating an everchanging and fluctuating sonic landscape. Against this sonic backdrop the audience’s movement through the space was guided primarily through their hearing as they sought to engage in the soundscape from different positions.
Simultaneously the sculptural forms were arranged within the gallery space so that they contrasted and complemented each other. As one traversed the space, different visual experiences would manifest themselves. The audience could compose visual alignments of the objects and their relationship to each other. The King and Queen forms would seem to nestle and spoon each other and would offer different kinds of flickering moire effects as one moved around the space. The Pawn seats suggested resting/listening points as each location offered a different visual-sonic vista.
In the end a different relationship and hierarchy was set up between sound and vision as one traversed the space. Sometimes you would be led by your ears, at other times by your eyes, however most commonly the two senses would work in unison, immersing and transporting the visitor in a synaesthetic experience of site and sound.
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