About the Project

The Interactive Soundscapes project is an opportunity for communities to develop a profile, or self-portrait, in audio recordings. This profile is intended to exist as a public forum which invites not only listening but also a chance for individual users to mix, match and alter sounds in an easy-to-use compositional environment. We hope this project will contribute to the overall aims of the acoustic ecology movement: encouraging the collection and enjoyment of audio recordings not just as aesthetic objects but also as aids in understanding and appreciating the world around us.

How it works

Before each Interactive Soundscape is installed, local residents are asked to supply recordings of meaningful elements of their acoustic environment (extraordinary or commonplace, from the stories of loved-ones to the hiss of the morning coffee-pot). The sounds are collected in a computer in the exhibition space which runs the Interactive Soundscape Designer software. This provides an interface where visitors can explore the archive, combining and altering the sounds with the option to save their compositions for revisitation and reuse by others. New sounds can be added periodically during the exhibition as community members return with new contributions. Like an aural quilt, the project becomes an expanding collaborative reflection of its environment.

History

July 27, 2007
Ear to the Earth
Stonington Opera House in Stonington, ME

March 2006
Space Gallery in Portland, ME

March 2 -12, 2006
PLUGGED IN FEST III
Center for Maine Contemporary Art in Rockport, ME

January 27th, 28th 2006
RESOLUTIONS 06
Hallwalls Art Center in Buffalo, NY

Summer 2005 - present
Stonington Opera House in Stonington, ME
The Interactive Soundscape Designer was born during a residency at the Imagination Project, part of Opera House Arts. We taught a field-recording workshop and seeded the archive with sounds submitted by local participants. The Stonington Soundscape is currently on view at the Stonington Opera House.