Intermediate Tones
The audible background of the streets is hybrid and sometimes noisy. It contains the whole spectrum of urban noises as well as the permanent echoing of music coming from a vast number of shops. My intermediate tones are visible through yellow speakers. The yellow color makes them recognizable within the vast visual variety of the street. The speakers are installed at different heights, sometimes visible from afar, sometimes hidden behind corners. Passersby notice them first by hearing their sound. Perhaps some people walking in the street start looking out for them, searching for them in the multitude of the locations.
The sounds I use are simple. They are sounds of friction, rustling, percussion and vibration of different materials as well as snapping sounds. Often the acoustic implants descent into the daily cloud of street noise. Somehow it carries them away and muffles them in order to integrate them into the noise of the street to make the sounds unheard as a part of itself. However, a few moments later they appear again, charging into the coincidental moment of acoustic space within the busy street -a moment they have for themselves in the general context of all audible events. These are the most interesting moments for me, because this happens incidentally, in an unexpected manner. From one second to the other, the ears open up wide and focus on the sound coming from the speakers closest to them. Then the hearing is completely present in order to experience one of the other acoustic implants.
Sound Sphere Kyoto, The 6th International Contemporary Music Forum, Kyoto 1994
Sanjo Street in Kyoto; 25 speakers of the same type with yellow covers; 10 different urban situations; steel wire; cable; 10 compositions; electronical equipment.