FEATURES

DESCRIPTION

Long Distance Relationship (Sound Mirror No. 2) is an interactive sound installation that attempts to transcend spatial boundaries and create musical relationships within remote distances. LDR is a two-part communication instrument that engages Nuit Blanche participants in both downtown Toronto and Scarborough.

LDR is constructed using custom-built electronic synthesizers that produce droning, polyphonic sounds tuned to a musical scale. The electronic instrument is activated with light and shadow. The instrument responds to variations in light with note changes. Audience members play the instrument by exploring how their shadows affect the sound – they improvise through body movement.

Spotlights shine onto a large panel with light sensors imbedded in the surface. To play the instrument participants must be present between the panel and the spotlight in order to engage the light sensors with their shadows. Speaker(s) located to one side of the panel amplify the notes created by the viewer’s movement. On the other side of the viewer, speaker(s) amplify sounds transmitted from the other location. This same set up is in two locations i.e., the sound resulting from a person's interaction with the piece in Scarborough will be sent to a loudspeaker in downtown Toronto and vice versa. Participants in one location can directly react to and effortlessly connect with participants in another location.

The sounds produced are transmitted through an internet connection; a laptop computer equipped with an LTE connection livestreams the audio using accessible streaming services high-fidelity VoIP services. Setups on each respective location will enable the transmission of sounds to both places in real-time.

LDR encourages participants to communicate with a stranger across the borders of our city – sparking spontaneous and interpersonal connections. This act of connecting is an examination of borders that questions the intersectional boundaries that have been imposed upon us from the divisions of the City. By breaking down communication to simple physical gestures, we reconstruct an alternative to human connection aiming to be void of assumption and stigma. With this work, people will bond and vibe in harmony creating an improvised symphony of sound.