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« Whirlwindsong », Groundsong, 2015

 

Sound installation: engraved sound floor, pressure sensors, sound and digital equipment: 4 speakers, amp.

 

The instrument sculpture is in the form of a keyboard floor on which visitors are invited to circulate. Their steps trigger whistled voice sounds and low vibration frequencies, amplified in real time. A sound composition is thus produced in a random manner and accompanies the film. The work is completed by a suspended canvas animated by the breath of a ventilator. The singing floor is inspired by the "nightingale parquet floor" that covers the floor of the Nijo palace in Kyoto. This floor, built in the 17th century, was used to control the passage of potential intruders by the squeals emitted by the steps of the visitors on the floor. Similar to the song of the nightingales, these sounds resounded at night in the palace and triggered the intervention of the guards of the emperor.