Bodies Bending Sound in the Guggenheim

The acclaimed choreographers Michelle Dorrance and Nicholas Van Young team up to create a new dance piece for the Guggenheim Museum’s rotunda.

See the percussive dance from above and below by panning on the screen while the video plays.

By: Tim Chaffee, Kaitlyn Mullin, and Maureen Towey

Read the story here: http://nyti.ms/2l8tzQ4

Symphonie Cinétique by Ólafur Arnalds and Joachim Sauter 2013

A kinetic com­po­sition con­ceived by Ice­landic musi­cian Ólafur Arnalds and Joachim Sauter/ART+COM that combines mecha­nical mo­tion and the poetic synergy of music in a space. The exhibition project focuses mainly on the cor­relation and inter­action of three elements: reflection, sound and movement. Symphonie Cinétique narratively inter­relates the three elements, and brings out their inherent, almost mystic harmony. The result of this process is an artistic synthesis, a unique spatial experience. 

http://www.faithistorment.com/2013/07/symphonie-cinetique-by-olafur-arnalds.html

Sound Installation in Estonia by Birgit Õigus

At Pähni Nature Centre in Estonia... "art academy students have developed and set up huge wooden megaphones to make the never-ceasing but scarcely noticeable calls and movements of forest inhabitants completely audible. The student Birgit Õigus designed the funnel-shaped megaphones for a project in the "Outdoor" auditorium at the academy. Hannes Praks, Head of the Interior Architecture Departments, explains, 'Being three metres in diameter at their widest point, the megaphones create a bandstand for the sounds that the forest produces.' Visitors can settle down comfortably inside the megaphones to enjoy the surreal backdrop of sounds."

more at DETAIL blog.

La Monte Young 'Dream House' Installation

'Coinciding with the 40th anniversary of the Dream Festival ... Dia presents a newly acquired, site-specific iteration of Dream House by La Monte Young, Marian Zazeela, and Jung Hee Choi at 545 West 22nd Street in New York City.

Dream House has been described as “a time installation measured by a continuous frequency environment in sound and light, in which a work would be played continuously and ultimately exist in time as a living organism with a life and tradition of its own.” 

“Dream House is a landmark contribution to the history of sound and light, a truly immersive experience, and one of the most important manifestations of Young and Zazeela’s collaborations,” said Jessica Morgan, Director, Dia Art Foundation.'

read more about the installation here.

National Sawdust in Brooklyn by Bureau V

National Sawdust is a multi-purpose space that "...aims to be many things: an acoustically sound concert hall, a rehearsal and recording studio, an incubator for contemporary music, and a restaurant and bar featuring an award-winning chef."

photos by Kim Nowacki/WQXR)

You can read more about the space and the design here, and listen to a news story below.

The xx's Temporary Performance Space in the Park Avenue Armory

London-based band xx is doing a series of shows in a temporary installation in New York's Park Avenue Armory.  This video describes the design as well as past installations in the building.  It also describes the building itself, parts of which recently were renovated by Herzog and deMeuron.

Interview with Acoustical engineer Trevor Cox

Trevor Cox is the author of The Sound Book: The Science of the Sonic Wonders of the World. He has developed new ways of improving the sound in theaters and recording studios, and he has explored many unusual interiors to examine their acoustic qualities.

Hear an interview with Cox here.

Alvar Aalto Viipuri Library Lecture Hall

Alvar Aalto's section of the lecture hall in the Viipuri Library which worked out the trajectory of  sound.

more here.

David Byrne on how architecture helped music evolve

Notations 21 Project

François Girardin stopped by the Second Year pin-up yesterday and gave a wonderful reference for any student attempting to use graphics and notation to describe sounds: Notation 21.




Drawing inspiration from John Cages Notations, Notations 21 features illustrated musical scores from more than 100 composers from every continent, all of whom are making amazing breakthroughs in the art of notation. These spectacularly beautiful and fascinatingly creative visual pieces not only make for exciting music, but inspiring visual art as well. Every score is accompanied by written contributions from the artists, which explain how the music manifested visually. Included in this anthology are famous composers such as Karlheinz Stockhausen, Steve Reich, Yuji Takahashi and Kathleen St. John, as well as lesser-known but no less important composers whose compositions are also visually astounding and important. Notations 21 coincides with an exhibit and concert series that will open at the Chelsea Art Museum in New York City and then move across the globe. In the spirit of honoring John Cages book, while furthering it in a 21st century context, a portion of this books sales will be donated to the Foundation for Contemporary Performing Arts.



There is also an online resource found at http://notations21.net/. If you click on 'Scores' you can find examples of musical notation generated by the participants.

See the DS04 blog for more.  (Thanks, François!)

Mapping- 'The World Redrawn by the 5 Senses'