Photos: Joseph Armario
Sölen Kiratly, PhD MAT (2021) and Akshay Cadambi, MS MAT (2017).
Hive is a digitally fabricated structure with embedded multi-channel audio. By creating a harmony between the structural features, physical acoustics, and sound design, Hive simultaneously contains and emanates a soundscape, constructing a hybrid space that is reflexively produced by an interplay of physical geometry and digital audio. The sound is morphed through the geometric attributes of the internal cavities that act like acoustical waveguides and is furthermore distributed and panned between the speakers, creating a 360o divergent sound field with multiple audio-spatial images that move and shift. The sound design adds a layer of sonic choreography that serves to accentuate the structure of the object, allowing the viewer to explore the many audio-spatial perspectives that are constructed by Hive.
Hive is based on an artistic exploration of the immanent interrelations of space and sound. Sound, as being a rather physical and mechanical phenomenon, is strictly tied to the spaces it disseminates in, enfolding in a constant interaction with the physical environment. It is, by its very nature, spatial, as well as temporal. While the spatial aspects of sound in digital audio are focused on localization and are commonly treated post factum to the act of sound design and composition, Hive is based on an integrated approach of taking sound and space as a unified notion with unique affordances.
