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Spirit and Sound

Art museums house not just art but people - and at any given time the experience of the art on display may be influenced by the atmosphere created by the visitors at that moment. Yet when we design technology for the art museum, it tends to assume a blank space where the art transcends its current surroundings. This approach is rooted not just in perspectives of what art is and how one should interact with art but also in what we believe technology to be and how we should use it.

The Spirit and Sound installation plays with the idea of causing reflection on visitors and their influence on the gallery experience. It suggests that the experience in an art museum can be a communion with the social environment just as it is a communion with the art on display.

For this particular installation of Spirit and Sound, we are working around the ritual of the Kalachakra sand mandala by the Namgyal monks at the Johnson Museum of Art. As visitors enter the gallery where the mandala is being created, they contribute energy to the space. This energy is sensed by 4 cameras placed throughout the gallery. Based on our proxies of energy, we modify a dynamic soundscape to respond to the visitor atmosphere.

The Spirit and Sound installation is based on the Tableau Machine sensing software developed by Michael Mateas, Mario Romero, Zach Pousman, Adam Smith, and Mukil Kesavan.

The Spirit and Sound team includes: Kirsten Boehner, Phoebe Sengers, Steve Wicker, Ron Riddle (sound composer), Lang Elliott (sound recordings), Bhuvan Singla (sound program), Robbie Aceto (music), Jan Delli-Bovi (music), Wil Millard (installation), David Ryan (installation)

For more information on Spirit and Sound, or to share your experience with the system, please email Kirsten: kab18@cornell.edu