A Choreography of Vertigo
This is an exploratory piece in the context of the class “Resonance: Sonic Experience, Science, and Art” taught by Professor Caroline A. Jones and T.A. Walker Downey at MIT, Fall 2019. This piece has as a central theme the concept of vertigo and how it is related to the environmental force of gravity. This is connected to the understanding of our vestibular and auditory system, and how sound and balance perception are central to define how we operate in space and relate with others in it. The extreme environment presented by the ISS is a particular case study since it challenges our perceptual system and opens up modes of existence and coexistence between human and non-human agents. A sound experiment and installation is developed from these ideas to unveil the poetics of the logic of vertigo.
This piece materializes from the concepts and ideas unfolded during the research process: auditory and vestibular perception, the poetics of gravity and microgravity, the concept of vertigo, and the agency of sonic environments. This installation consists of a multichannel spatialized 9.1 sound system: six distributed speakers and three low-frequency transducers. There are three totem-like stands that hold the speakers in balance and are distributed in a way that they virtually draw an ellipse with the speakers facing its center, constructing a sonic orbit. Everything is placed in balance, so in this installation, gravity holds things in place.
The main objective of this piece is to materialize a system of balance and imbalance using sound as a unifying force.
Sonic environments, auditory and vestibular perception, the concept of vertigo and the poetics of microgravity are explored throughout this piece. The main objective is to start drawing the first lines and experiments to create a sonic choreography of vertigo. Sound and pressure explorations will be presented as a way of affecting our sense of balance and trying to induce the sensation of vertigo in a physical and conceptual form. The experiments consist of studying responses to sounds that have variations in frequency, amplitude, filters and spatial effects. These elements compose a multichannel sound installation that composes a choreography of vertigo.
