aerial (brass) explored how sound could mediate people's relationships with each other and with the physical environment of the installation. The piece was exhibited at The Bonnington Gallery, Nottingham and Centrespace, Visual Research Centre, Dundee. During this time musicians and dancers were invited to improvise with the piece.
The space is silent when aerial (brass) is encountered for the first time. As a person enters the gallery space they see three pairs of acoustic boxes mounted on the gallery walls. A taut piano wire is stretched between each pair of boxes above head height, pulled through a veneer membrane on the front of each box.
In the distance a simple block of brass,
As each aerial wire is approached a sinewave is triggered which is amplified through a speaker in three of the acoustic boxes. The person's movement around each wire effects the volume and frequency of each sinewave and the sound of the piano wire vibrating against the veneer membrane of the box can be heard in the space overlaying a more analogue texture of sound on top of the sinewave.
The installation subtly translates the body's position, movement and involvement within the installation into sound. In liaising with other people in the installation it is possible to generate a loose and intuitive "composition" of sound. The wires may also be touched and "played", turning the room into a resonant and responsive instrument. A person interacting with the wires described it as: "playing the room like an instrument".
The brass object
While installed in
aerial (brass)
interactive sound installation
2004 - 2005
The installation was commissioned by NOW Performing Arts Festival and was exhibited at The Bonnington Gallery, Nottingham in Nov. 2004, and Centrespace, Visual Research Centre, Dundee Contemporary Arts Centre, Dundee in April 2005. Ingot was developed during a Hothaus Residency at VIVID in Birmingham in collaboration with the Nicolas Villar, Dept. Computing at the University of Lancaster.