What is an audience?
31 Parameters explores the traditional paradigm between audiences and musical performances. It attempts to create an environment in which sound can be played and molded as and when audience members want. The performer is a diffuser of the overall output, armed with a laptop, software and midi controller.“An audience is a group of people who participate in a show or encounter a work of art, literature (in which they are called the ‘reader’), theatre, music, or academics in any medium. Audience members participate in different ways in different kinds of art; some events invite overt audience participation and others allowing only modest clapping, criticism and reception.” (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Audience)
What do I want to change?
The aim of the project is to re-imagine the traditional role of audiences at performances. Its main idea being that audiences often want to participate in the performance but are restricted by the normal gig paradigm as well as often the inability to play a musical instrument. This instrument bypasses these norms and allows for those with no musical clout to enjoy and feel the sensations of ‘playing sound’. It attempts to create a triangular, rather than two-way, relationship between audience, performer and output.
How does it work?
The system is designed for informal gatherings and therefore certain cultural rules apply: the audience are allowed and encouraged to speak, move around and enjoy their evening without purely focusing on the performer. Indeed, they are encouraged to use the interface when they want to help shape the soundscapes. This approach allows us to have technologically oriented systems, with interesting and bespoke audio, without the preconceptions or cultural baggage of the artistic/academic sphere. By doing this, it adds a relaxed atmosphere to obtain one of the main objectives of any performance worth seeing: it is enjoyable.
What different situations can occur?
As the theme is a ‘skin’ the performance can be adapted to to cater for many situations. In the demonstration the theme of modern industrialism was chosen to highlight the sonic possibilities of my hometown’s main industry. It attempts to make interesting what can often be overlooked as ‘background’ noise. However, the sonic output has a huge importance to the ‘feel’ and overall aesthetic of the interface and the experience.
Different situations occur because of many variables and one important one is time. The project can be thought of as two entities: the first is as a night-time leisure activity in which viewing a musical performance takes on the added element of interaction and therefore creates an engaging evening. The other takes the core ingredient and uses it in daytime contexts such as an industrial trade-show, as an appealing installation, or with a different ‘skin’ be used as a stimulating childrens toy, for example.
How is the audience experience shaped?
For demonstration purposes it was difficult to realise the intended overall situation and experience due to the restraints of academic institutional life (i.e not a night-time activity, no drinking/socialising). However, it has been placed in a industrial backdrop (by decoration) and a relaxed atmosphere has been attempted to allow the enjoyment of it as an instrument.