Touching the Voice Inside Out: R+D
Concept 1: We rode on the backs of finger-talk beasts, A
Concept 1: We rode on the backs of finger-talk beasts, B
Concept 1: We rode on the backs of finger-talk beasts, C
Concept 2: Operator, get me my palm! A
Concept 2: Operator, get me my palm! B
Concept 2: Operator, get me my palm! C
Concept 2: Operator, get me my palm! D
Concept 3: Sometimes voices drizzle and fall A
Concept 3: Sometimes voices drizzle and fall B
Concept 3: Sometimes voices drizzle and fall C
Concept 3: Sometimes voices drizzle and fall D
Concept 4: Inside the moth membrane nebula A
Concept 4: Inside the moth membrane nebula B
Concept 4: Inside the moth membrane nebula C
Concept 4: Inside the moth membrane nebula D
Concept 4: Inside the moth membrane nebula E
Concept 5: Inside the moth membrane nebula F
Concept 5: We touched the tenrdils' resonant tongues A
Concept 5: We touched the tenrdils' resonant tongues B
Concept 5: We touched the tenrdils' resonant tongues C
Concept 5: We touched the tenrdils' resonant tongues D
Concept 5: We touched the tenrdils' resonant tongues E
Our plans for helping fingers to talk.
Kingsley Ash demonstrates his coding framework for inviting fingers to generate sounds that resemble mysterious languages.
Voice- and touch-reactive textile prototypes.
Experiments with the technologies for the moth membrane nebula. Demonstrated by Berit Greinke with input from Yvon Bonenfant’s voice samples. Video by David Shearing.
Our tactile ultrasonic array.
One way of ‘feeling’ vocal sound through generating ultrasound that stimulates the touch receptors of the hand. Demonstrated by Peter Glynne-Jones.
Touching the Voice Inside Out is a series of concepts for interactive, performative installations for general public space in lobbies and arts centres. As AD, my primary interest was to develop the ‘voice-expanding mirror principle’, first purposed during the Vivacious Voices in Action project, in order to invite people to see, and especially touch, feel, and sensorially bathe in, the unique qualities of their voices and gestures in new ways. We wanted people to experience their own voices in sound, light and touch outside their bodies - making their own voices objects of contemplation and discovery. We worked to develop performative technologies that would capture the subtleties of vocal phonation, like qualities of timbre; consonants and vowels; and mirror them back in interesting ways. Our large conceptual and research team, which spanned theatre, music, voice and speech science, art, coding, robotics, textile engineering and design, developed five core concepts for interactive installations, described below, and a number of prototype repurposings of technology. mac Birmigham supported installation of the works in their public space. While this extremely ambitious project did not come to fruition, the concepts sparked off the strand of research-creation work Voice-Styling.
Artistic director of team: Yvon Bonenfant. Main sound and light conceiver and coder: Kingsley Ash. Final design coordination and renders: Other Fabrications. Contributing creators and designers: Berit Greinke (with speciality in smart textile and robotically animated textile). David Shearing (object and interactivity design). Simon Laroche (digital and visual art, object design, sound art, coding), Micah Silver (acoustic consultant). Peter Glynne-Jones (vibration engineering). Prof. Catherine Best (voice and speech science, psycholinguistics). Dr Ruth Epstein (voice medicine, speech science). Nimesh Patel, voice medicine. Julia Haferkorn, consultant producer.
Concepts in slideshows above:
1 We rode on the backs of finger-talk beasts You ‘speak’ by dancing your fingers into the beast you ride, and converse with other beasts. Subtle finger movements create consonants, vowels
2 Operator, get me my palm! You telephone your palm, and feel your voice on it, leaving a print of your body’s warmth behind
3 Sometimes voices drizzle and fall You take a shower in your voice
4 Inside the moth membrane nebula Dangling textile cocoons, robotically animated, lift, twist and shape themselves in response to the unique qualities and actions of your voice. You are inside and you can grab these cocoons, and feel their temperatures change and their wrinklings and unfurlings. You are cocooned by your voice’s uniqueness
5 We touched the tendrils’ resonant tongues Silicone tongue-shapes waggle and change texture, inflate and deflate in response to your and your group’s unique voices. Above you, the overtones contained in your voices ring out of brass horns