sound sculptures

These pieces all play generative music. They were shown together at MoxiePOP in Greenville, NC in June 2017.

Although not created as a series, these pieces reflect my interests in the visual aesthetics of childhood, domesticity, DIY, and kitsch. The music reflects my fascination with the differing perceptions of music — what some might call ethereal and soothing, others call eerie and strange.

101 Lullabies

This sculpture is an old doll house with ghostly lights and speakers playing computer-generated lullabies. I made a program in the computer music language “SuperCollider” which creates the lullabies by randomly choosing a mode, meter, accompaniment pattern, and melody. Since they were created somewhat randomly, they range from cute to wistful to creepy!


Sunflower Salutation

This sculpture is a flower pot with deliberately fake-looking flowers, each of which contains a speaker. There are four different elements in the music, which was put together in the computer music program Pure Data: long organ tones, stretched choir notes, recordings of birds, and synthesized percussion (vibraphones, marimbas, etc.). Much of the music is bright and peaceful, but some mornings (ahem, Monday), there could be a lurking sense of dread!


Spectral Cathedral

This sculpture features speakers hidden inside decorative bells. I made the music in SuperCollider. The program synthesize tones based on bells, and can be set to loop any number of times. For each loop, the computer chooses a “root” note, rhythm and melody, and whether it triggers other sounds (a trickling water sound, gongs, or ghostly whistles). The “root” note gradually moves up and down in each loop, so you may hear something bright and sparkly, then come back in five minutes and hear something dark and murky.

Welcome and thanks for checking out my work! -adam

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