All Together, all apart the periodic table, made sound
In my high school chemistry classes, I would spend an inordinate amount of time staring at a poster of the periodic table of elements on the wall. I was fascinated (and still am) that so much of what is around us can be fit into a neat little table; it made the world seem like a complicated set of building blocks that could be deconstructed and rebuilt at will. Of course, life is not so simple; as I would learn later in the same classroom, each element has its unique set of properties that guide the ways in which it interacts with its fellow members of the table.
All Together, All Apart is a sound installation that attempts to bring together this sense of play with the scientific properties that led to the table’s creation. Visitors are able to click or type in any assortments of elements to create their own sonic molecule that exists in the space. These molecules are created by mixing atoms of the selected elements together, with the sound of each element’s atoms being created by sonifying elemental properties such as state of matter, atomic mass, atomic radius, and oxidation states. Visitors are encouraged to experiment with molecules both realistic and fantastic, both simple and extreme, to hear a new sonic perspective of the elements that make up our world.
All Together, All Apart is a sound installation that attempts to bring together this sense of play with the scientific properties that led to the table’s creation. Visitors are able to click or type in any assortments of elements to create their own sonic molecule that exists in the space. These molecules are created by mixing atoms of the selected elements together, with the sound of each element’s atoms being created by sonifying elemental properties such as state of matter, atomic mass, atomic radius, and oxidation states. Visitors are encouraged to experiment with molecules both realistic and fantastic, both simple and extreme, to hear a new sonic perspective of the elements that make up our world.
Library of babel exploring an infinite library
Library of Babel is an installation that allows users to search through a sea of sonic and visual representations of alphabetical symbols and punctuation that are encompassed in an infinite textual library. Visitors peer through the various walls, shelves, and volumes of the library, searching for whatever they wish - be it meaning, sense within the chaos, or audiovisual euphony. The default sounds for symbols can be replaced by recordings that the user creates on location, allowing the user to provide their own sonic reconstructions of the Library’s contents. Library of Babel breaks language into its constituent parts, leading users to examine how they interpret and construct meaning from text.
binary exploring physical and digital self
bInary is an interactive sound installation featuring seven stations that represent common aspects of modern life in the digital age. Most stations center around modern technology, and its central role in many aspects of society. Users engage with each station to do various tasks, including inputting personal data, manipulating touch screens, typing out social media posts, taking selfies, and recording greetings. The combined stations, done consecutively, take on a ritualistic nature, taking habitual aspects of everyday life and exposing them to stand alone. bInary takes data from interactions with the stations to create a sonic representation of those who interact with it, revealing the disconnect between personal identity and the use of data representation as self.
bInary was completed in fulfillment of a Master of Music degree in Music Composition at Western Michigan University. View the official thesis documentation here.
For access to scores and other resources, please contact the composer by means of the contact form or emailing [email protected]