Acousmeaucorps / Tom Maysan interactive public sound installation
Acousmeaucorps (pronounced « a-cous-mo-cor ») is an interactive sound installation which creates an acousmatic body space using a video camera, a computer and 4 speakers.
The video camera (situated above the space and facing downward) is connected to a computer running Max/MSP/SoftVNS which uses movement and position data to generate spatialized sound.
The human body thus becomes a performance instrument, generating and triggering sounds which build musical sequences through walking, running, making arm movements, or even just flexing one’s fingers.
For the current version of Acousmeaucorps, the sounds are played on two levels. One is a resonant « mass » that seems to move like water in a wading pool – favoring different pitches depending on the area of movement. The other is the triggering of different « found objects » that seem to jump out of very specific locations within the space.
Both sound types combine to encourage people to move in such a way that they can’t help but forget to be self-consciousness and enjoy searching around with movements that become fluid and questioning, the idea of « body » and « space » taking on new significance.
The visitors moving freely within this space defined by the four corner speakers become the creators and performers of their own simultaneous music and dance.
The Istanbul exhibition of this installation will take place at Istanbul Bilgi University - Performing Arts Track - Santral Campus with the support of the French Institute Istanbul and Culturesfrance.
