Inside of an empty baroque chapel, the movement of people resulted in resonance sounds, which resounded in different quantities and intensities, depending on the number of visitors and their movements. The variable sound structure created varied in range, from the threshold of hearing to the threshold of pain.
Along the chapel walls, eight IR sensors were installed, by means of which a computer registered and evaluated the movement of people. Based on the data acquired, it picked resonance sounds from a memory database of sample sounds, and transmitted them to speakers, which were placed in such a manner that a listener could not specify the source of a specific sound. The resonance sounds were created from the recorded tones of the churchbells of Prague, and they were arranged into a structure based on the pentatonic scale. The sound equipment was adjusted specially for the acoustic qualities of the Bernard chapel and positioned in such a way that sounds were reflected, broken and amplified by the space.
Amnesty is a sound installation that strongly impacts the visitors' senses by means of carefully processed and very dynamic sounds. By connecting a sacred Christian space and an Oriental musical scale, cosmic sounds and artificial intelligence, it gives evidence of the relationship between past, present and future in the contemporary world.
Samples:
Audio MP3 sample (3 minutes, 3 MB)
YouTube video
Exhibition history:
Hermit '94 - Transparent Messenger, Plasy, 1994
Hardware (installation):
Emax II, 8MB RAM
PC XT/AT, 1MB RAM, custom MIDI card
IR sensors AEI PIR-9038L
4 amplifiers 2 x 50-100 W
guitar combo 200 W
speakers 50 - 100 W.
Software (installation):
MS DOS, custom software.
Realization team:
Milan Gustar
Pavel Rejholec
Petr Svarovsky
Year of creation: 1994
Thanks to: Cinemasound, FAMU, K-Audio for support.
