Understanding the concept of sound installation in the previous week, the building of an interactive sounding space with sensors helped us internalize the knowledge of what sound installations represent and how to construct our own sonic-spacial expression.
The performance simply consists of four speakers on different directions with sensors on it to enable interaction with the audience if they walk by. By playing four different tracks, the channelling of signature sound released through different speakers helps express the sonic-spatial narrative of each producers. By interacting with each speaker in a certain order and eventually immersing in the resonating sound, audiences have concluded their feelings, which has been depicted as the constructing of sound and the world by the audience themselves. Besides, by filming and observing the whole process, I found that audiences tend to have their own preference for different sound track and stand by the favourite one longer than others. These comments and observations may represent how the emphasis on interaction has enabled the audience to feel the music in an active and personal way, which is different from the traditional stage setting that divides the audience from performers and considers them as passive recipients.
Another interesting point is that everyone in the class has chosen a different way to build their soundtracks and the sounding space. In this case, each work has different social relationships to the external world and represents the producers’ self-positioning. This phenomenon aligns with Georgina Born’s theory of social mediation (Born, 2013) in sound art, which posits that sonic artworks mediate a web of personal, social, cultural, and institutional relationships, as well as the materialities of the sites they inhabit. Furthermore, the concept of resonance in sociology, as discussed by Hartmut Rosa (2016), suggests that individuals’ relational abilities and sense of their place in the world are influenced by resonant experiences, where both sides mutually stimulate each other, speaking “with their own voice.” In this case, the interactive sounding space not only serves as an active listening but also a direct expression of the producer’s self-illustration, where the interactive here also refers to the connection between the audience’s understanding and the producer’s expression.
By practically being involved in constructing the sounding space, there is also some reflection on the music production itself. Different from the traditional composition, building an interactive sounding space involves adjustments on the automation and the arrangement itself in order to construct an immersive and interactive experience. The performing may not achieve the best quality of such experience due to the lack of detailed placement information and experience. However, such an opportunity enables me to consider interactive performing as an vital alternative in future work.
Reference:
Born, G. (ed.) (2013) Music, sound and space: transformations of public and private experience. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Rosa, H. (2016) Resonanz: eine Soziologie der Weltbeziehung. Berlin: Suhrkamp Verlag.
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