Searching Voices: Concept & Experience

Searching Voices is an interactive installation containing three body sized objects, connected by a radio network. The installation discusses communication and reconciliation between diverse cultural and social groups, voices. Through collaboration and co-creation with the objects, the audience creates unique tactile, auditive and visual experiences. Each object has its own identity, voice and contains different sensors and speakers. By interacting, the audience creates auditive and visual variations. Variations that over time create a wholeness, reconciliation.

Create synthesized voices in Searching Voices

The synthesized algorithmic voices have different register from base and tenor to alto. They have different behaviours developing over time, effecting degree of movement, phrase length, rhythm pattern, melodic range, intervals, variation and repetition.

The base voice algorithm has a low register voice, with slower behaviour and fewer melodic steps.

The tenor algorithm has a mid register, a faster behaviour with greater interval steps and more variation.

The alto algorithm has a high register, a legato behaviour with continuous sounds and longer melodic phrases.

Interact in Searching Voices

There are different ways to interact with the bodies, depending on what role the audience want to take and their physical abilities, because the sensors are shaped differently and placed on different heights. Therefore, a child needs to ask his father to lift him up in order to reach and interact with a sensor higher up.

The interaction becomes parts of a communication and negotiation act. On the first level this takes place between the child and his father, on the second level between the bodies, father and child.

To make all the bodies sing together the audience need to motivate others to interact over time, and thereby take part in a communication and reconciliation act. One can interact by grabbing, bending and moving the bodies' hands and arms. One can move them carefully or rhythmically towards each other, or towards the different coloured lights. Or one can touch the bodies silver jewellery gentle or in a pulse harmonic with the rhythm of the singing voice. The bodies answer by singing in various voices and patterns of light. Or one can just kneel and listen carefully to the different aspects of their voices, their mode and lighting play. The audience can reach out, find ways to interact, communicate and understand, by relating the different voices to each other, connecting them musically together in a choir.