Jeremy Saya

SOUND BLANKET

An interactive wearable sound sculpture consisting of a blanket embedded with twenty small speakers and programmed using Arduino and Max MSP software. As a hybrid object, it is multi-purpose in that it can act as an interactive installation, as a piece of wearable technology, or as a fixed sound sculpture. As an interactive installation, the work invites visitors to drape it over their bodies and manipulate it as sounds are heard through the inward-facing small speakers lining the blanket. The object can also act as wearable technology and be employed in the context of a performance. In this case, the speakers face out so that spectators hear sounds emanating from the performer’s body in movement. Thirdly, it can be installed as a static sculpture. Either hung from the ceiling, laid out on the floor or draped over a plinth, the sounds emanating from the object can be experienced by walking under or around it rather than by physically manipulating it.This iteration features a soundscape composed of breathing sounds. The sounds are spatialized and mapped around the body. The mediative nature of these sounds seeks to ground one in an embodied listening experience facilitated by the blanket.This work engages with ideas of immersion, embodiment, tactility, and conscious listening and asks the following questions: how is a surround sound experience transformed by the ability to physically interact with the sounds? Does introducing tactility and physical envelopment enhance the experience of immersion?