Speculative Atmospheres ll
Project research
Cosmo Niklas Schüppel
Playback (working title)
project idea
Keywords: Influences, Atmospheres, Time, Repetition
In ‘Playback’ a designated place is chosen, where the data of natural factors (for example: Air quality, temperature, humidity) is collected and the soundscape (the atmospheric sounds) is recorded.The data is made audible in a piece of atmospheric drone-music, here the data of the natural factors determine the all aspects of the created sound. This monotonic drone is mixed with the recorded soundscape and is played back to/at the place at a later time. At this later playback-event, the data is collected again and is transcribed into music live. The participator can the witness the two drones (the collected and live transcribed data) and the two soundscapes (the pre-recorded one and the one that the place naturally emits) morph into each other.
Conceptually this project talks about the influence of past on the present and also what happens if past and present are not clearly distinguishable. Through this, ‘Playback’ aims to loosen and dissolve the accustomed view and perception of time as a linear and absolute concept. In this conceptual disolving of the perseption of time (which can happen anyways when the mind drifts of in perseiving sound when it is monotonous and has no structure of rythum or tension) 'Playback' tries to lead the participator into a meditative state where past and present morph into each other. The world of thought is transported in to the foreground of perception and the mind is confronted with its hectic patterns. The thought and emotional patterns that we created and made stronger in our past are now confronted with the 'emptyness' of the present, just like the space itself, that creates the atmosphere that the listener is falling in to, is confronted with its own past. In this process an interplay is created between the outter and inner world, the different states of time and inbetween the participant and the space that surrounds them.
Technically this could be achieved with Arduino sensors, that are audiated in Processing. The atmosphere-soundscape would be recorded with a ‘normal’ microphone. The playback-event would need a quite loud stereo sound system, so that the mixture of past- and present-soundscape can be achieved in a convincing way.