Bradford Bahamas

The installation encourages audience interaction by allowing sound creation through body movement. Interaction is explored through analogue means opposed to digital processes hence more akin to the 'Theremin'.

A bank of old tube TVs and monitors (CRTs) emit electromagnetic fields (EMFs) which are absorbed by the human body and channelled to a sound system for sonification. Ones proximity to a screen controls the amplitude and each CRT can be independently tuned to emit a desired sound.

Dense improvised population of screens within in a large space makes the entire environment highly interactive. A performative space is created where subtle movement, walking or running generates sound. Fertile ground for new sound discovery is created as the space becomes saturated with signals which bleed into each other. This is accelerated through audience collaboration where human chains can be formed to share and mix signals. Alternatively, choreography can be used to produce a non-improvised musical performance through an appropriate screen configuration.

Process Details

1. The screens visualise electrical phenomena through direct copper wire connections to components of functioning electronic consumables such as Radios, synthesisers, signals generators, computers and smartphones. This process exposes the internal language of electronics, in the form of, animated organic patterns specific to the source item.

2. The resultant EMF's are made audible by standing on a gold surface which is connected to a sound system. The body becomes an aerial and a conduit for the signal to pass to an amplifier and speakers. Note that extensive debate exists on the long-term physiological effects of such emissions (by-products) from domestic electronic equipment.

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