ISEA2008 Juried Exhibition
Run Silent; Run Deep
Nigel Helyer (UK/Australia) & Daniel Woo (Australia)
Collaborating with: Marine Mammal Research Laboratory
The title is an ironic reference to the motto of submarine captains in WWII who knew that the silence of their craft was the key to remaining undetected. In contrast this artwork is a whole-hearted embrace of the richly sonic world deep within the ocean. The artist will be bringing this auditory world to the surface in an immersive surround-sound experience, which will be located within the gallery.
Prior to the exhibition, the artist will be creating an 'audio portrait' of Singapore harbour by recording underwater acoustics, running the gamut from sonar to whalesong. This library of sounds will then be 'composed' as a virtual cartographic environment which invites the visitor to navigate space and simultaneously create a dynamic 3 dimensional soundscape.
This project employs the AudioNomad system to geo-spatially locate hydrophone recordings and other marine audio data, rendering this into a rich map-based composition that allows live 'mixing' in the form of Virtual marine journeys. AudioNomad is a collaborative Art + Science Research and development project between the artist (Sonic Objects: Sonic Architecture) and Dr Daniel Woo of the School of Computer Science and Engineering, at the University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia.
Dr Nigel Helyer (UK/Australia) a.k.a. Dr Sonique is an independent Sydney-based sculptor and sound-artist who creates large-scale sound-sculpture installations, public art and environmental works as well as interactive new media projects. His practice is actively inter-disciplinary linking creative practice with scientific research and development.
Dr Daniel Woo (Australia) is the chief investigator and technical lead for the AudioNomad Research Group - a location-aware soundscape platform. His research and industry experience includes software development, embedded systems, speech and audio technologies, mobile devices, location aware systems, usability and user interface design. In 2005 he was awarded the Australian Apple University Consortium Best Practice Award for Innovation in Teaching.
