Currents 2025 proposal
Nocturnal
Nocturnal is an immersive 24 channel sound installation (in-progress) building on ideas from a number of my past immersive installations which explore the complex sonic relationships within natural ecosystems and environments. Much of my work has centered around these large scale installations which can see by looking through my website. Many of my multi-channel works - both solo and collaborative - have been shown in prominent public and gallery settings.
image: Prairie - Chicago Cultural Center - (2013)
Nocturnal is is anticipated to be completed in early 2025. An ambisonic piece, grass, which is based on the same ideas was awarded a 2025 Harvestworks New Work Grant/Residency which will support research into the underlying biological systems I will be emulating within both these works. This piece is comprised of 24 speakers, mounted in short tubes and positioned on the floor. Exact positioning is site-specific and will be set into a particular space by the artist. The photos taken here were during a setup in a brewery (I am a principle in a local craft brewery) and represent a first round of tests with the system. The piece in these photos is setup in a 25’ x 25’ space. In general, the piece would require a seperate room, with a minimum size of 400 square feet. and roughly square.
This piece explores systems of synchronicity in large environments of rhythmic sounds as well as continuous sounds. In other words, synchronicity in time as well as in pitch. These kinds of sound are often generated by large populations of insects (crickets, cicadas, etc.) within ecosystems, where moving in and out of synchronicity is often one important aspect in communication within these populations. While the sounds in this piece are generated in a more mathematical way - a kind of sonic moiré pattern of interference, the reference to natural ecosystems is intended as well.
While previous pieces of mine have incorporated multiple loudspeakers - often in very large numbers - for example Prairie, Green, and others - these pieces used digital outputs to create patterns of clicks that simulated various insect sounds and other natural sounds, but were limited in the sounds they could produce, in particular their amplitude, frequency range, etc. Nocturnal employs 24 channels of regular audio - using a utrack24 24 track audio interface and USB player and 24 channels of audio amplifiers and 24 custom speakers. The patterns are all synthesized in Max/MSP then recorded onto a USB drive for use within the installation.
Large scale multi-channel sound installations allow the listener to navigate through the space having intimate contact with individual sounds, but always in the context of a larger sound field around them. This kind of experience promotes active and detailed listening, as well as can create a very meditative state in the listener. One essential element of the installation of this work is that it must encourage viewers and listeners to wander throughout the space - moving between various listening points and experiencing the visceral nature and the immersive impact of being surrounded by speakers, each with its unique voice.
This video was made of one of the initial tests of the system. While this test was largely to gauge things like the spacing of speakers, the overall functioning of the system, the frequency responses of these particular speaker setups, etc. the video still does give a hint of the direction this piece is taking in it’s development. However, keep in mind that this material was primarily designed to test some of the ideas re moving patterns in and out of synchronicity, etc. and is just the first step in working to develop the finished piece.