28 sound

location space

PARA•SITE towards a sonic architecture

installation | peaks and valleys by brian s pearson

orientation interference performance

Music and architecture are often brought together into the same discussion as a comparison or as an analogy Is there something within each that could allow for a unity? The desire to join the two is very strong and goes back far in the discourse of both subjects, possibly rooted in a primordial survival instinct: knowing the origin and direction of sounds is critical in hunting or for protection from attackers. Today such awareness is no less needed in our daily lives. Music is considered a recreation and art, but how we create with sound could contribute to how we engage with our built environment. These are questions that lead me to ask: “Can sound be used as a material for the creation of architecture?” and to attempt an answer with the performance piece Para•Site. How we typically interact with architecture or music, has, for the most part, been reduced to a mono-dimensional activity that puts the two in opposition or causes a disjunction. Music is most often considered a dynamic art 1 although the listener is typically in a static position (a seated, quiet, passive receiver) watching (and listening) to a performer from a single vantage point. The music is considered to change in time, but not in space. Space only becomes a factor when considering the cultural rituals of presenting music. 2 Amplification with loudspeakers denies the need to locate an intended presentation – whether spoken or musical – in a space that will appropriately support the activity, and deficiencies of sound or space can be overcome by electronic means. Furthermore, we are increasingly accustomed to music on the radio or iPod, removed from a spatial context by the “flattening” of the experience with headphones, so that we lose a sense of the sonic qualities of our environment and how they differ from place to place. For its part, architecture is often considered static, immutable and reduced to the dimension of the visual. Analysis often concentrates on how the building looks and relies on the display of proportion and geometry (volume); rare in the discussion is how a building provides for its occupants. Today architecture is most often experienced (even for the professional)

through photography. Relying on a visual and geometry-based understanding of architecture denies the fundamental purpose of architecture, which is to enhance human experience –experience that is dependent on perception through all the senses and aware of changes that occur over time. The performance piece Para•Site was presented in a space often considered mundane, 3 a space rarely designed to catch our interest or to function for performance: a corridor connecting an entry foyer to classrooms and offices. The name, Para•Site, was chosen because of its double meaning: the work is like a parasitic organism dependent on a host for its existence. It derives its form from the acoustic properties of the space. The name also points to the duality of creating a (sonic) architecture ‘by the side of’ the physical location of the performance. An architecture of sonic material begins with analyzing the physical and acoustic measurements of a space, informing the dynamic qualities that can be used to tailor the piece to fit the space. Because we cannot touch sound we do not consider its physical aspect. It is the oscillation of air 4 pressure from high to low, and we can only sense it because of the physical interaction of air molecules against our ear drum. The oscillation can be mathematically described as a sine wave, known as frequency, that has a physical dimension. 5 Sound can be tailored to fit a space. Two sound waves in a space or even a wave and its reflection will interact and combine. If the combination is additive then the frequency is enhanced – and the room is ‘resonant’. However, if the combination is subtractive then we notice disruption or even possibly the waves will cancel out to create non-sound. In this piece, long duration tones (processed human voices used for textural interest) are broadcast in the space from selected points. The parameters of frequency, separation of sound sources and amplitude (loudness) can be modified to create geographic regions of peaks and troughs of wave combinations. During a Para•Site sonic architecture performance there are no restrictions placed on the audience – no suggestions on where to be or how to act. People can move freely or remain in

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