Grass - Multi Channel Immersive Sound Installation @ Harvestworks - Govenor’s Island NYC

I was invited by Harvestworks to present a version of my Grass piece at the Site on Govenor’s Island. This house, which is a summer-only site without heat or water is a bit run down but is in an awesome location and hosts a lot of great sound and media work. This installation was done using 24 channel audio, completely surrounding the listener within the downstairs rooms using home made speakers placed on the floor around the perimeter of the space. This installation is inherently site-specific, and is “set” on this space by installing the speakers and then customizing the audio to fit both the acoustics and layout of the speakers, but also to take into account the environmental sounds already present at the site. In this case, Govenor’s Island has numerous external sounds - most prominently the helicopters constantly flying over the island - which had to be accommodated within the piece.

Grass is a multi-channel sound installation that explores systems of synchronicity in large environments of rhythmic sounds. These kinds of sound are often generated by large populations of insects (crickets, cicadas, etc.) within ecosystems, where moving in and out of synchronicity is often one important aspect in communication. The sounds in this piece are generated using ambisonic and other field recordings and are also created synthetically in a more mathematical way – creating a kind of sonic moiré pattern of rhythmic interference. Nonetheless, the reference to specific natural ecosystems and how they behave sonically is also quite specific and important. The piece is designed to be presented in a variety of multi-channel configurations.