Flux IV
“In the West the ear gave way to the eye as the most important gatherer of information about the time of the Renaissance, with the development of the printing press and perspective painting” -R. Murray Schafer-
The built environment is often conceived as an explicitly visual curation where sound is an afterthought where acoustic elements are typically added retrospectively to environments where the acoustics are ‘wrong’. Flux is a series of installations and experimental pieces I produced between February and October 2016 which were designed to investigate our relationship with our spaces and each other through acoustic performance.
Based on my research into James J. Gibson’s theory of ’ecological perception’ Kevin O’Regan’s theory of perception as interaction (sensorimotor contingency theory) Flux explores the potential energy level of interaction and reaction of sounds between users and spaces and in doing so try and define how our relationship with acoustics can be developed.
Following the previous installations in the project I submitted a proposal for Flux IV to the We Are Now Festival, hosted at the Roundhouse (Camden) curated by the Royal Central School of Speech and Drama in Collaboration with the venue, with a theme of sound and hacking. I proposed an installation to be hung in the main entrance space of the venue which would allow audience member or occupants of the space to hack the acoustics.
Building from the previous works in the series the proposed installation would be an array of sound mirrors which could reflect and embellish amplify and redirect sounds produced in the space and create a dynamic soundscape and installation who’s configuration and performance would be determined by the activities of the occupants of the space.
From concept to installation the project took 5 weeks in which time I gained real practical experience project managing a public art project. securing and managing funding while co-ordination of design, fabrication, required documentation to the venue and festival organisers such timetables and graphics for publicity and ensuring that the project met the deadline and the budget (from initial costing to completion the project stayed within £300 of the initial estimated total)
Due to the position of the installation over the main entrance to the venue one of the most challenging aspects of the installation was providing detailed risk assessments and method statements of all of the aspects of the project. I had to compose documents detailing the method of possession of the area during the installation and removal of the project and specification of the assembly of each of the elements against the risk assessment had to be signed off by the Roundhouse health and safety, fire and event’s organisers for the piece to ever make it past the proposal stages.
Production & Direction, Alex Kendall White
Max MSP & Videography, Darcy Ch
Festival production team, Megan Kieran, Adrienne Miller, Edward Buttler, Max Heller
Principal Funding, Architecture Projects Fund, Bartlett UCL
