LaBelles ‘Room Tone’ is a project that spans over art, architecture and design. For me, this project is an interesting work challenging perceptions of sound and space from a social and design perspective.
LaBelle provided participants with three audio recordings, each an acoustic representation of his apartment.
- Ambient: Hum and background noise etc.
- Measure: Rhythmic qualities of a lived space, such as footsteps.
- Material: Textures of surfaces like walls and furniture.
From these recordings, collaborators had to interpret them as physical models of the space. Some artists created models that were a precise representation of the acoustic characteristics of the space, although some were more abstract, focusing on how sound can act as a binding agent, promoting socialising and community. Or how sound can evoke memory.
I feel these abstract interpretations of the recordings align with how I intend to represent sound in my prototype piece. Through shape and material, I wish to acknowledge how we feel and behave in different sonic environments, and how the materials of these environments are made up of can effect the sound of a space.
Key Quotes from https://www.sfmoma.org/read/room-tone/
“The acoustic properties of a space resonate with individual perception, opening room for creative and emotional interpretation”
“I imagine sound as something that is always already form and formlessness in one; it continually plays between states of recognizability while also inciting fantasy.”
“The house is an active and dense store of sounds, continuously evolving through inhabitation.”
“What emerged were not only models of space but maps of memory, emotion, and individual listening practices.”
“Sound reveals how spaces are not fixed but are constantly changing, shaped by movements, voices, and interactions.”
