sounding piles by Rachely Rotem from usa

Motion is a form of communication. In ”Sounding Piles”, motion will negotiate the boundaries between the social groups of the hearing and the hearing (dis)abled. These two communities will share the experience of a constantly changing physical dimension to music through the physics of sonic vibrations. The interactive environment will question the social stigma of the loss of hearing as (dis)ability. Instead can we find the opportunity to perceive the world in a new way? Can this initiate a form of perceptual motion?

“Sounding Piles” is a slowly shifting landform of sand that provides visitors the opportunity to visualize the sonic vibrations of music. The participants would interact with the sand landscape physically, while also creating virtual interactions in sharing music that would be ”played“ on the landform. When multiple visitors are engaging with the installation, a public “symphony” would be temporarily created. This “symphony” would create a novel form of social interface that combines the activities of social media-based music streaming with physical activities in public space.

The environment will be comprised of a modular wood platform, containing sand that is continuously formed and unformed according to the vibrations transferred from below the platform. The physics of the proposal is based on the Faraday heaping phenomena. When a container is filled with small spheres that are vibrated vertically to a certain frequency, Faraday heaping occurs and pile patterns starts to form. Air flow from vibrations affects the pattern of growth of the piles-- as a result, the particles of the piles are scattered along the edges of the heap, allowing for the piles to merge and subsequently grow. Participants can interact with the slowly changing nature of the “Sounding Piles” and directly influence the patterns of the sand piles, resulting in interactive experiences that cannot be predicted or repeated.

”Sounding Pile” has been tested in a small scale prototype and the result was successful. The Lexus Design Award would provide the opportunity to develop the project at full scale. The funds would be used to develop a working environment that will includes the translation of many sources of MP3 music into the physical transformation of a sand landform. Below is the outline for the prototype module with an approximate size of 12’x12’:

Technologies:
5x Sonic Shaker
5x Mounting Accessory
5x Power Amplifier
Several MP3 players
Wireless music system
Structure:
Wood joist structure with Metal panel floor
Sand:
10 Cubic yards of washed sand