Sound, Space, Experience Design – Learning Journey reflection!

Really happy that our class was able to go for a trip to the artscience museum during recess week!

 

There were two exhibitions; NASA and Future World.

 

Firstly, we went to the NASA exhibition. Since this post is gonna be on the use of sound and space, I’m just gonna focus on this particular installation in the exhibition that made use of sound and image.

 

 

Sorry! I’m such a genius and forgot to take a picture of the description of exactly what is the equipment below. But basically, it managed to capture the sound that this equipment creates, giving viewers direct information of what the equipment is and immersing themselves in the installation even more.

There is also a screen next to the equipment. The screen depicts sound waves that correspond to the sound the equipment creates. This supporting imagery gives the audience further information on the function of this equipment.

From this particular NASA exhibition, I realised that making use of direct sounds will help audience to understand a particular image screening/object based installation even faster/clearer.

 

Next, we went to the Future World exhibition. When it comes to sound/space/experience design, I feel like these two installations stood out to me; Light Ball Orchestra and Story of the Time when Gods were Everywhere.

 

 

In Light Ball Orchestra, the colourfully-lit and vibrant balls were definitely a given that this space was catered for children! The consideration of vast space and the use of colours here are really attractive not only to the eyes, yet it also gives space for children to run around and play with the balls.           

 

 

 

 

At first, I thought that the Light Ball Orchestra installation was the one creating this magical humming repetitive sound. But actually, it was the screening located near it; the Story of the time when Gods were Everywhere. Even though the screening depicted scenes of nature such as greenery and animals, sounds that come from nature were not played. Instead of cow moo-ing or birds chirping, this installation created a very merry catchy tune that is probably hummed by a person(?) to accompany this interactive screening. The happy tune definitely complemented the imagery and helped to bring out a very whimsical and happy environment for the visitors.

photo taken from: http://bumblebeemum.net/2016/04/08/future-world-artscience-museum-singapore/

 

 

 

 

 

4 takeaways:

  1. When it comes to an installation using an object, complementing it with sounds that the object produces, creates a very immersive environment for the audience such as rattling sounds with screenings of snakes.
  2. Besides using direct sounds, one can also create a different set of tune that matches the imagery. This would give an alternative to the typical sounds that we hear and relate to everyday. For example, recording our cackling sounds similar to a witch, putting it on loop and playing it along with a screening of a child crying alone in a room to create a scary environment instead of using the direct sound of a child’s cry.
  3. There does not also have to be a direct relationship between the sound and image as this would cause the viewers to question the installation even more.
  4. Consideration of space/breathing space among the different objects in an installation is important too.

 

Overall, I’ve really enjoyed myself at the exhibitions there and really understood the key factors when it comes to installations! :o)

 

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