Outlines and Surfaces
The sounds you hear in this work are produced by the architectural features of the stairway and represent the acoustical signature of the site. No other sound has been introduced. To activate the resonances I have used contact transducers that cause the panels positioned overhead to vibrate at the appropriate frequency rates. The work evolves over time like the ocean, in waves of woven sonorities that eventually render audible the 202 resonant frequencies that are listed in the sound score.
My work with sound in architecture began many years ago in the late 80s and is informed by the ideas and experiments of Russell Frehling. Other influences for this Stairway derive from musical ideas proposed in Cross Sections and Color Fields, a composition for large ensemble by my teacher, American composer Earle Brown.
Stairway. Score. © 2011, Gustavo Matamoros. Subtropics Editions. All rights reserved.
Exhibition Details
20110420-0904
Sight Specific: Explorations in Space, Vision, and Sound
Stairway (2011) world premiere
Exhibition curated by Freddy Jouwayed
Museum of Art, Ft. Lauderdale, Florida
Publications
