is a multi-media installation that explores sonic dislocation and re-contextualization through the reshaping and transplantation of soundscapes. Presentation spaces within the NUS Cultural Centre will be transformed into listening gardens where visitors can hear sound, both natural and urban, collected from local and international locations, processed with the intent of transferring to the presentation space(s) the essence of foreign environments and locations. Further dislocation will be enacted through the introduction and juxtapositions of video skyscapes that will massage or gently collide with the unfolding sound environment.
Boom Blooms
Boom Blooms are flora-morphic sonic sculptures categorized according to sound families that are based on refined categorizations (Propulsive, Expulsive, Indistinct, Fricative, Percussive, Oral) as derived from Italian Futurist Luigi Russolo’s six sound families as presented in "The Art of Noise." Each bloom is situated within the space based on the source material’s place of origin and altitude. What results is a highly aestheticized aural emanation of a miniaturized and translocated Southern California landscape spanning from mountain range to sea shore.
Over time, the installation will become interactive as volunteers function as sound gardeners, and artists perform the duties of sound pollinators by contributing new notes to existing “sound scents." Participants may either maintain the boom-bloom pedigree by remaining true to designated sound families or they may hybridize by mixing sound families within a single sculpture. Sound gardeners will be able to gather source material for their sounds scents from an online sound seed bank. They can also incorporate sounds gathered from their own field recordings. Slowly, the sound garden will turn into a sound jungle.
The Sound Gardener responsibilities are as follows:
Operation and upkeep of the Boom Blooms. This entails starting the players in the morning, stopping the players in the evening, changing batteries, replacing mp3 players if they malfunction etc..
Each submission should be auditioned to insure that it meets the guidelines below. One submission should be added to no more that six boom blooms. The submission mp3s should be added to each Boom Bloom's initial bloomscape. The hope is that, eventually, each bloomscape will grow to several hours of audio.
Pollinator Guidelines
(Sound Gardener is free to pollinate as well): MLuM will post audio samples [by sound category, refer below] on this blog, as a podcast. Students and artists are invited to download and manipulate the samples and then send them back to be added to Boom Blooms (they may also incorporate sounds gathered from field recordings.) The samples can either be downloaded using the links on this blog, or by subscribing to the podcast using programs such as iTunes or Google Reader. Use the following link to subscribe: http://SonVerbatory.blogspot.com/feeds/posts/default Pollinators are permitted, for purposes of hybidization, to mix categories.
When submitting processed sound samples, please follow the guidelines below:
Audio should free of obscene content.
Treat the stereo channels as two independent mono channels. The right speaker will be located in the bloom and the left speaker in the pot.
Render the files in mp3-128kb/s format (length between one and ten minutes.)
File may be delivered via email using a service such as yousendit.com. (mp3s sent as attachments will not be accepted) Contributors may also email us links to their audio files.