life without air water light sound
part 1
The dark theme of human conflict referenced to the Berlin Olympics of 1936 and the atomic bomb on Hiroshima in 1945 is explored with children performing a series of choreographed movements which are turned into sound by a reactive sculpture.
At first the audience hears only the sounds of their feet and clothes, as they take part in warm-up exercises for a range of activities. It is only when they all take a place on a starting line and rush forward, that the loud sound generated by their movements is heard. They all abruptly stop and attempt to hold their frozen postures, beginning an awkward retreat.
The narrative takes them through a mime of their previous actions, now revealed to be choreographed to produce coordinated sounds.
At first the audience hears only the sounds of their feet and clothes, as they take part in warm-up exercises for a range of activities. It is only when they all take a place on a starting line and rush forward, that the loud sound generated by their movements is heard. They all abruptly stop and attempt to hold their frozen postures, beginning an awkward retreat.
The narrative takes them through a mime of their previous actions, now revealed to be choreographed to produce coordinated sounds.
These curved devices act as sound mirrors, focussing an ultrasonic wave into a beam.The complex reflections from anything moving in range of the projected ultrasonic beam are heard as nuanced sounds. It could be something as small as the many individual drops of rain as heard in the youtube video sample. Or performers bodies choreographed as repeated gestures, combining as a group to produce harmonic soundscapes.