Sound Installation Artist

Robin Minard gave us a key in his presentation into unlocking what a sound installation actually means. It is the idea of a relationship between, “what I do and where I do it.” Thus, the piece should not easily be separated from the place or its architecture and its success should depend on whether or not it can be separated. Minard creates his art by enhancing a public space as opposed to using a concert hall.

I found Minard's talk intriguing. The idea that people are drawn in to the installation, but then find themselves hearing the space and architecture was interesting. Therefore, I decided to investigate this further and view Minard's installation that is being exhibited as a part of the Adelaide Festival of Arts. I found the visual aspect of the installation more appealing than the sound itself. The arrangement of the hundreds of small loudspeakers created an awesome display, whereas the sound was not captivating. This may be a result of other noises present like the air conditioning. Perhaps this is Minard's intention, to mix his sound source with the sounds of the space. I assume that the sound source was of a synthetic nature, but it did appear natural. The waves of sound pumped through the loudspeakers did not have the effect that I expected. However, I do wish to visit the installation again and see if I experience the same environmental type sounds or hear a different set of slowly changing sounds.

On my first experience, the success of Minard's installation seems limited. Possibly the space selected is not the most suitable, on the basis of being able to separate the sound from its location. The sound did not engulf me. However, I am still intrigued by Minard and would like to know more about how he determines the relationship and appropriateness of the sound and the perception of space. The creation of the sound source is always an issue in music technology. Thus, the learning of SuperCollider this year is going to be engaging given that it can be used for sound design, gaming, music, production, and for applications. It could be the vessel for creating the natural sounding synthetic sounds that Minard described.

Minard has a unique approach to Music Technology, and this uniqueness is a good thing. Whilst technology in music develops rapidly, it is fascinating to see someone who continues to explore in one direction.

REFERENCES
Minard, Robin. 2006. Artist Talk - Sound Installation: art and practice. Presentation presented at the Electronic Music Unit, EMU Space, University of Adelaide, 2 March.