Keywords: large-scale, spatial sound, biophysical media, sensory alteration, participative

0-Infinity

World Premiere: 24 September 2015, TodaysArt, The Hague

0-Infinity is a visceral and communal ritual of sensory affection. It was originally created for the 4DSOUND spatial sound system. The piece is installed in large-scale environments and is experienced at night. The work is an unstable and reactive architecture of infrasound vibrations, audible sounds and high-powered lights. The architecture grows, morphs and falls apart through time, space and frequency in response to biophysical signals and movement data from the visitors’ bodies. In other words, it is brought to life by, and through, the visitors’ bodies.

Using the XTH Sense, Donnarumma’s bio-wearable musical instrument, the inaudible sonic vibrations from the visitors’ hearts, blood flow and muscles are amplified and turned into sonic material that tangibly shakes the installation floors and walls. A Ubisense location tracking system is used to make the architecture aware of the visitors’ positions and paths in space and morph according to the spatial relation between participants. The intimacy, or lack thereof, of the visitor’s encounters in space drives intense sonic and physical resonances between each other’s body and the space surrounding them.

The responsive sound composition combines with a custom array of ten high-powered floodlights to induce visitors into a challenging multisensory climax. Complete darkness and inaudible infrasounds slowly evolve, through a range of frequency bands and color gradients, into a monumental body of drone sounds and white light. Human body parts and machine parts are configured into a total space of networked bodies.

Show

TodaysArt Festival | Circadian
E.ON power plant, The Hague, NL

Format

Participative, interactive concert for biophysical sound.
Duration: multiple sessions of 30 minutes for three audience members at a time
Media: custom-built XTH Sense biophysical sensor, location tracking system, subwoofers, high-density loudspeaker array, sodium floodlight array, computer

Credits

Concept, artistic direction, staging, light design: Marco Donnarumma
Music, interaction programming, physiological computing software and hardware: Marco Donnarumma
Light design support: Nikki Hock
Additional programming: Luc van Weelden
On-site production: Poul Holleman
Artwork’s description text: Marco Donnarumma
Live photography: Georg Schroll, Fanni Fazakas
External eye, PR: Paul Oomen, John Connell

An artwork and production by Marco Donnarumma. Commissioned by 4DSOUND and co-produced by 4DSOUND and TodaysArt.