2017 – – inclusive interactive tactile sonic installation and
artistic research project: “the bone conductor”
The installation invites to become “conductors” our self’s when experiencing different sensory hearing perspectives: by touching the sculpture and feeling resonating soundscapes, feeding the ears, eardrums with (reflected) sounds and connecting the inner ear directly by using bone conducting headphones, listening and feeling soundscapes with the whole body. For this first presentation during 24Hours Amsterdam North festival. I composed tangible soundscapes including “orchestrated” sinus sounds and field recordings: “the love conductor”, “bone orchestra” and an imaginary drone like sensescape: “north pole”.
small compilation (stereo), best listening with headphones :
The bone conductor” project was a playful introducing to bone conduction.
The public was enthusiastic exploring the new combined “multi sensorial hearing perspective(s)” of the installation. There where discussions about new experienced hearing perspectives. Because of the large industrial hall where the installation was presented the “woollen sound bone” was causing a lot of reflecting reverberations, but the directness of the bone conducting headphones and the direct sounds together with the tangible resonances from the “woollen sound bone” created a clear, intimate, tactile and haptic experience. Together it created a rich and transparent combination of multi sensory hearing perspectives. The ability to play and experiment with the fixed stereo, direct (inner ear) hearing perspective through the conducting headphones and the moveable interactive “woolen sound bone” created unexpected new hearing perspectives. It triggered discussions about the ways we hear and navigate through our daily sound habitat, while being (un)conscious of the (tactile) sensory information.
“woollen sound bone” with the bone conducting headphones
You wear the bone conducting headphones not on the ears but on the cheek bone just before the ears; the sonic information is going directly to the inner ear without passing the eardrums. With your (outer) ears you still can hear while staying connected to the surrounding sounds.
inclusive
“The bone conductor” project is broadening and expanding my artistic research of the “multi sensorial hearing perspective” by bringing together several sensory hearing perspectives and including all kinds of personal multi sensory hearing experiences. (aural diversity; we all hear differently). The interactive tactile sonic installation combines the hearing experience of a tactile sonic sculpture the “woollen sound bone” with composed audible and tangible soundscapes and use of bone conducting headphones at the same time. Although my tactile sonic installations are made for “everyone” because they are mediating multisensory information, during the follow up of “the bone conductor” project I decided to explicitly include the experienced “multi sensorial hearing perspectives” of different sense (dis)abled people, creating a more inclusive idea of the “multi sensorial hearing perspective”. Of course these shared sensory perspectives are always very personal; in the same time there are differences and similarities corresponding the kind of sense disability.
different sense (dis)abled people
In 2018 I started to present “The bone conductor” for blind, sight- and hearing disabled people. After the presentations I asked them for their name and age, how they would describe their sense disability, if they developed also special sense abilities or talents, how they experienced the bone conductor installation with combination of hearing perspectives, how they experienced the musical elements in it, how they use their senses when navigating through the sound habitat, what they think of the “musical” aspects of their daily soundscape environments, if they want to add or change things in their daily soundscape or in future soundscapes?
Here you find more information about the presentation during The Global Composition 2018, Conference on Sound, Ecology, and Media Culture in Darmstadt-Dieburg/Germany, October 04 – 07, 2018, of the project as it was developed at that moment.
titel: “the bone conductor” – project: to gain more inclusive knowledge of the sound habitat by sharing multi sensory hearing experiences of sight- and hearing (dis)abled people.
As independent artist researcher I am not affiliated with a art institute or university so every (small) donation for this project wil be helpful. I appreciate your time and consideration.
