2008
Four-channel sound installation, 57′48″
Gustavo Matamoros and Rene Barge
Florasonic Sound Installation Series
September 21, 2008–February 7, 2009
Fern Room, Lincoln Park Conservatory
Chicago, Illinois
Cardinal Points was commissioned by Experimental Sound Studio for Florasonic, a sound-installation series curated by Lou Mallozzi. The work was composed specifically for the four-speaker system permanently installed in the Fern Room of Chicago’s Lincoln Park Conservatory.
The composition brings together Small Sounds recorded from the vibrations and manipulation of tiny objects; bird and insect recordings; slowed ultrasonic material; and electronic sounds. I contributed the Small Sounds, while Rene created most of the electronic material. Together these sources formed a population of distinctive sonic characters, each possessing its own scale, timbre and behavior.
Rene and I constructed the piece collaboratively within a single digital-audio project. We added, arranged and transformed tracks together, with both of us participating throughout the process—our hands in the same pot while the brew was cooking.
Using quadraphonic panners, we explored different relationships between sound and location. Some sounds remained stationary, while others moved among the four elevated loudspeakers. Their trajectories could direct attention from the center of the Fern Room toward its four corners and beyond, create exchanges between distant points, or produce momentary combinations within the room’s virtual space.
The title refers directly to the four loudspeaker positions. Like cardinal directions, these points established an orientation through which the sounds could remain in place, approach one another, separate or travel around the listener.
The 57′48″ composition was completed before we traveled to Chicago. It played continuously during the conservatory’s daily hours, from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Originally scheduled to close November 30, 2008, the installation was extended through February 7, 2009. Although it occupied a greenhouse filled with dense vegetation, the interior was relatively quiet. This allowed the work’s small and often delicate sounds to remain audible without separating them from the visual life of the Fern Room.
OPENING AND RELATED PERFORMANCE
Opening reception
Sunday, September 21, 2008, 3:00–5:00 p.m.
Lincoln Park Conservatory
A related evening performance featured Gustavo Matamoros, Rene Barge, Fred Lonberg-Holm and Lou Mallozzi at Experimental Sound Studio.
EXHIBITION
Cardinal Points was commissioned by Experimental Sound Studio with support from the Argosy Foundation Contemporary Music Fund. It was composed for the Florasonic Sound Installation Series, curated by Lou Mallozzi.
PRESS
CREDITS
Composition and sound design: Gustavo Matamoros and Rene Barge
Small Sounds: Gustavo Matamoros
Electronic sound material: principally Rene Barge
Spatial composition: Gustavo Matamoros and Rene Barge
Commissioning organization: Experimental Sound Studio
Florasonic curator: Lou Mallozzi
Support: Argosy Foundation Contemporary Music Fund