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HEAVEN AND EARTH DIPTYCH
- 2025 - RHIZOME - NEW YORK, NY -
- 2025 - WATER STREET ASSOCIATION - NEW YORK, NY -
Electronics, Speakers, Subwoofer, Aluminum, Wood, Amplifier Upholstery, Speaker Wire, Chain, Hardware
A sound installation piece and performance platform exploring the combination of high frequency spatial audio and extreme low frequency haptic audio. The piece utilizes a 32-channel hanging speaker array and a 1-channel floor-mounted subwoofer platform controlled via a custom designed electronic audio system. The piece features a built-in long form audio behavior which can be experienced by the public during viewing hours, and is also usable as an instrument-platform for performance activations by collaborating artists.
Heaven and Earth Diptych was originally commissioned by Rhizome as part of Rhizome World at WSA - 161 Water Street, and is now open as a public artwork at WSA - 160 Maiden Lane.
The configuration of the system explores the physicality of sound and the way in which different forms of audio are experienced by the listener. High frequency sound is directional: we feel its positioning and movement in space. Low frequency sound is tactile: it can be felt via the sensation of touch as well as hearing. Both of these effects are the result of the physical size of the waveforms involved: high frequency waves are physically small, so minor differences in positioning are felt more greatly, whereas low frequency waves are physically large, creating a greater surface area for the reception of tactile sensation. Heaven and Earth Diptych invites both audiences and performers to creatively explore the physical experience of sound.
Heaven and Earth Diptych exists as part of a long-term body of work using the ShiftDriver Spatial Audio System, a custom electronic audio platform designed to control large numbers of sound sources with sample accuracy using 1-bit sound. Each piece in the series expands scope and form factor, exploring new sonic possibilities for the technology. A key feature of this approach is collaboration, making the instruments accessible to other performers thereby sharing and more fully exploring their sonic and creative potential. This approach centers on a long-term body of work building towards the creation of TEMPLE-65536: the world’s largest spatial audio instrument as a permanent installation open to artists and composers from around the world.