There is value in exploring proprioception—gaining an awareness of our bodies’ relationship to their spatial surroundings, particularly with regard to the vibrations, latent frequencies, and invisible sonic elements of space. Resonating sound waves can touch the entire body, resulting in unique, internalized experiences that facilitate self-reflection. School of Fish is an interactive sound installation developed in response to these notions. Within the School of Fish environment, people can learn together how sound behaves in unpremeditated contexts, experiencing the free coalescence of form.
Together with my friend and collaborator Jaak Jensen, we designed a multi-channel array of sonar sensors and loudspeakers that respond to individuals’ movement. The technology allowed us to map a room with multiple sonar sensors so that, depending on how and where a person moved within the space, they produced varying audible results.
School of Fish decontextualizes and complicates traditional notions of music pedagogy and performance. It emphasizes the ways in which play and natural movement contribute to music-making and rejects the notion that musicians and composers must possess formal musical backgrounds.
