YCAM Inter-University Consortium
Public space and sound project − “autonomic sound sphere”
displayed at public space in YCAM - courtyards 1 and 2, foyer to main staircase, staircase at the entrance on the park side, and passageway in front of the locker room
 
In this project, communication design workshops [research + practical training + production + exhibition] are conducted based on the theme of sounds at the public space through close teamwork of graduate students from four universities in Japan who specialize in media art, information design, and kansei engineering.
In their work, “sounds” and “musical elements” are combined, adopting such sound effects as visitors can experience only at that site, and sound installations are heard at different places in the building. At some places, interactive systems are employed so that visitors’ movements affect the works directly or indirectly. In addition, all the sound data at different places are networked, and as a result, the sounds in the whole building gradually change. At the foyer, an experimental sound work by Keiichiro Shibuya is presented, in which an ultra-directional speaker (with a special system through which sounds are audible only in a specified area) is used.
 
From a bird’s−eye view of the public space, and looking at people’s movements in the space, we feel that the whole thing looks like an autonomously moving body. As a living creature is made up of millions of cells, the public space comes into existence through the series of activities of the general public. In this exhibition, that moving mechanism is modeled as a unit and a sound space has been designed so as to make the whole YCAM construction a sort of organism. (Text by a project member of YCAM Inter-University Consortium)
■ Project members
Akihiko Taniguchi (Master First-year, Sound & Media Art Lab, Tama Art University）
Takehiko Morikawa（Master first-year, Human Perception & Cognition Lab, Yamaguchi University）
Takaki Sudo（Master first-year, Musical Creativity and the Environment Course, Tokyo National University of Fine Arts & Music）
Yosuke Hayashi（Master first-year, Studio1, IAMAS［Institute of Advanced Media Arts and Sciences］）

 

■ Support members
Aya Yoshida（Fourth-year, Human Perception & Cognition Lab, Yamaguchi University）
Chiho Toyono（Master second-year, Human Perception & Cognition Lab, Yamaguchi University）
Futoshi Sugimoto（Fourth-year, Human Perception & Cognition Lab, Yamaguchi University）
Kenji Onishi（Fourth-year, Human Perception & Cognition Lab, Yamaguchi University）

 

■ Special Thanks
Akihiro Kubota (Professor, Sound & Media Art Lab, Tama Art University)
Atsuhito Sekiguchi（Professor, IAMAS［Institute of Advanced Media Arts and Sciences］)
Makoto Ichikawa（Associate professor, Human Perception & Cognition Lab, Yamaguchi University）
Masahiro Miwa（Professor, IAMAS［Institute of Advanced Media Arts and Sciences］)
Masami Hirabayashi (Associate professor, DSP Course, IAMAS［International Academy of Media Arts and Sciences］）
Sumiko Kumakura（Associate professor, Musical Creativity and the Environment Course, Tokyo National University of Fine Arts & Music）

 

■ Technical Support YCAM InterLab
■ Project management Rina Watanabe (YCAM)
■ Supervisor Keiichiro Shibuya + Takashi Ikegami