SOUND SCULPTURES

SOUND ISLAND: TWO ARRANGEMENTS BEING PLAYED 2018/2019

This is an example of two instrumental arrangements being played on The Sound Island. The Sound Island is a device intended to be played by one to three (ideally two) people at once. They are invited to rearrange a set of sounds originally used in instrumental beats and action sounds I have created for the game SPINCH (Jesse Jacobs/Queen bee games). In this video, Jesse Dangerously and James Kirkpatrick play two arrangements on the sound island while it is installed at the Judith and Norman Alix Art Gallery in Sarnia for the touring Exhibition "TO THE UNSEEN FUTURE" from November 2018 to January 2019. It was later installed for the same exhibition at the Robert McLaughlin Gallery in Oshawa February - April 2019. Thank you to Jesse Dangerously for the performance and to Noel Sargeant for lending us an extra camera. Thanks to Lisa Daniels, Dale Workman, Atlee and the Staff at the JNAAG for their assistance in the original installation of this work. Thanks to Leila Timmins, Sonya Jones, Mike and the staff of the RMG for the re-installation of this piece. Special thanks to Funken for software arrangement assistance. I am grateful for the assistance I have received from the Ontario Arts Council and the London Arts Council to make this piece possible.

NAISA NORTH SOUND SCULPTURE DEMONSTRATION

Quick video made on mobile phone of sound sculptures presented at New Adventure In Sound Art (north), South River Ontario. Fall of 2017 during my residency there. This is afree jam of sound Sculptures with no intended outcome. A combination of new and older sound pieces placed throughout the gallery all working together. This set up was also a test in preparation for an upcoming device for a future exhibition. Thanks to Naisa.

CENTRAL CONTROL DEVICE

Midi electronics housed in body made from reclaimed toys and fibreglass. Mixed media. Made at the Banff Centre for the Convergence Residency.  Winter 2016.

 SOUND TOWERS 


  • Fiberglass, Wood, Fabric, Acrylic Paint, Gypsum, Arduino, .WAV Shields and Electrical Components. Multiple Dimensions, 2014.

Participants activate sounds in the SOUND TOWERS based on their distance to them. The movable MODULE makes sounds itself. When you place the MODULE on a SOUND TOWER it activates additional sounds within in the SOUND TOWERS. This is done using an Arduino and magnet sensitive switches.

The sounds from the SOUND TOWERS and the MODULE come from deconstructed songs I have made by using sampled circuitbent toys.

Here, the SOUND TOWERS are shown installed at the McIntosh gallery, London Ontario, for the exhibition, SECRET BASE BY THE LAKE, APRIL, 2014. 

A GOLD COIN FOR EACH ONE OF THEM

  • Fiberglass, Wood, Acrylic paint, LED's, plexiglass, arcade buttons, wires of multiple dimensions, modified bit vision sound sampler/looper and LCD Monitor, TV: 27 x 20 1/2 x 4 in, Controller: 20 x 11 x 13 in, 2012.

This piece is a video and sound sculpture created with the intent for it to be played by visitors to the exhibition space. A customized Audio sampler, and a re-programmed video synthesizer, are housed in the sculpture that sits on the plinth. These devices send images and sounds, to the LCD Monitor built into the sculpture which is mounted on the wall.

The size of the visuals, sensitivity towards the influence of the beat on the image, as well as how the audio affects the color are
manipulated through different combinations of pressing the buttons.
These changes all occur in time with the current selected instrumental.

The beats coming from the sound sampler are made on an modified 8-bit game boy and then imported onto the sound sampler.The effect of these beats on the visuals take the digital paintings that began mainly as figurative images
and bring them to abstraction, patterns and back to figurative shape all in seconds.
Adding to them movement and pulse involving random colour shifting.

 HAT TO THE SUN

  • circuit bent electronics, fiberglass and enamel, plexi glass, potentiometers, wire and wood, 20 x. 12.5 x 2.5 in, 2012.

The electronics inside of Hat to the sun are taken from within a Sleep Sound Therapy Machine. I have modified it by making the rate and pitch of the audio samples now controlled by a potentiometer. 

 IMPROVISATION WITH SOUND SCULPTURES


Sound Sculptures BANDIT, THEOPOLIS and FLAVOUR are played by Peter Thompson, Paul Walde and James Kirkpatrick, through Sound Amplifiers/Sculptures COMMAND CENTER HOME BASE and LEADER ONE. This performance at Michael Gibson Gallery took place November 2011.

These sound sculptures are exhibited and intended to be played by gallery visitors in an attempt to encourage collaboration. In this example, Thompson and Kirkpatrick are playing with Paul Walde for the first time as a trio. The sound sculptures are not intended to create traditional music, rather, spontaneous, improvised sounds.

WHAT ARE THE CHANCES

FRONT VIEW 

SIDE VIEW


  • 96"x90"x32" and 91"x 23"x24", gypsum and acrylic exterior paint on wood and metal armature, with internal audio equipment playing sounds from circuit bent instruments.

Pictured in Victria Park, London Ontario at LOLA Festival. September 2010.


CLICK PLAY BELOW FOR AUDIO CONTENT OF WHAT ARE THE CHANCES

THREE FROM THE BRAIN SERIES


  • plastic from reclaimed children's toys, LED's, constructed IC's and wire, tamiya model paint, fiberglass and epoxy, potentiometers and speakers 2012. Brains are 7 x 4.5 x 6 in. Amplifiers are multiple dimensions.

A demonstration of some of the sounds that come from three of the BRAIN sound sculptures from the Brain series with their amplifiers. Made November 2012. Each pairing of instrument and amplifier have their own slight personalities in tone and temperament. I made the original BRAIN sound sculpture to play in my sound collage project GYM Zsahib. The rest of the series are slightly different from the original and from each other. They are intended to be played by visitors to the exhibition space. To me it sounds best when more than one are being played at the same time.

NONE HOP BLUE


  • Fiberglass, wood, paperboard, arcade buttons, Acrylic paint, plexi glass, modified NEBULOPHONE and electronics, 2012, 18 x 9 x 3 in.

The white, blue and black arcade buttons generate tones in a scale that changes with each push. The red buttons also affect the glide and rhythm of the tones. The white dials select different personalities and arpeggiation of each tone. The instrument is turned on and off with the red switch and is powered by a 9 volt battery. In this example NONE HOP BLUE is played through a sculpture/amplifier unit. NONE HOP BLUE and the amplifier are connected through a mono 1/4 input jack.

GOTCHA 


  •  acrylic paint, plaster of paris, and hot glue on wood and metal armature with internal audio equipment playing sounds from ciruit bent toys, one motor, wires and three aa batteries, 2010, 30 x 22 x 4 in.

The four circuit bent toys and materials used to create this Sound Sculpture were found in Sackville New Brunswick and put together to make GOTCHA during my residency at STRUTS GALLERY.It is turned on with the push of a button at the top of the sculpture. A random pattern of wheel spins and sounds occur each time the sculpture is activated. The batteries go in a small compartment at the back.

EARLY UP

This is a Circuit bent instrument in a sculpture It is made out of wood, plastic, paper, cellulose, plaster of paris and paper board. Approximately 2'x 1.5'. It plays up to 10 different noises, sometimes more sometimes less, sometimes a mix of 2 noises. Has adjustable volume control. Powered from 4 AA batteries. Finished January 1st 2010.

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