Panacousticon

Panacousticon

Panacousticon

The sound sculpture “Panacousticon” (a word derived from Greek παν ακουστικων, hear everything) is a large satin aluminum dodecahedron loudspeaker; the work is a sculptural variation of an omnidirectional sound device commonly used in room acoustics measurements. The sculpture, with its 12 loudspeakers, evenly plays a drone chord of sine waves to fill the room with sound.
The synth-generated waves are tuned in different pitches and octaves following some musical principles (e.g. in reference to La Monte Young’s Dream Chord) and also psychoacoustics criteria (e.g. combination tones).
The audience is invited to acoustically explore the room by walking around the sculpture, moving closer or further away from it. The sound played by the sculpture doesn’t vary in time, but through movement and interaction with the sculpture it is possible for the audience to perceive overtones and slight acoustic modulations. These are caused by the psychoacoustic effect of the reflection of sound waves in the room. This way the static nature of the work takes an interactive twist - everyone experiences different acoustic variations depending on their involvement with the work and on how their auditory system perceives the sound reflections. The psychoacoustic effects of this work are deeply related to our ability to self-localize in space through sound perception: the auditory system compensates and improves visual self-localization capacities. So the artwork "Panacousticon", beside its sculptural and visual impact, enhances our aural stimuli to raise the audience's awareness of the importance of sound in experiencing architectural space.
Sound is a medium that needs to be physically experienced, even though it appears to be a contactless experience. Because we are immersed in the fluid (the air) which propagates sound, we are always in "intangible" contact with the sound matter. Therefore the sound experience proposed by "Panacousticon" is a "contactless by default" experience, that nonetheless touches each visitor in the core of its perceptive system (and emotional too).

The sound sculpture “Panacousticon” (a word derived from Greek παν ακουστικων, hear everything) is a large satin aluminum dodecahedron loudspeaker; the work is a sculptural variation of an omnidirectional sound device commonly used in room acoustics measurements. The sculpture, with its 12 loudspeakers, evenly plays a drone chord of sine waves to fill the room with sound.
The synth-generated waves are tuned in different pitches and octaves following some musical principles (e.g. in reference to La Monte Young’s Dream Chord) and also psychoacoustics criteria (e.g. combination tones).
The audience is invited to acoustically explore the room by walking around the sculpture, moving closer or further away from it. The sound played by the sculpture doesn’t vary in time, but through movement and interaction with the sculpture it is possible for the audience to perceive overtones and slight acoustic modulations. These are caused by the psychoacoustic effect of the reflection of sound waves in the room. This way the static nature of the work takes an interactive twist - everyone experiences different acoustic variations depending on their involvement with the work and on how their auditory system perceives the sound reflections. The psychoacoustic effects of this work are deeply related to our ability to self-localize in space through sound perception: the auditory system compensates and improves visual self-localization capacities. So the artwork "Panacousticon", beside its sculptural and visual impact, enhances our aural stimuli to raise the audience's awareness of the importance of sound in experiencing architectural space.
Sound is a medium that needs to be physically experienced, even though it appears to be a contactless experience. Because we are immersed in the fluid (the air) which propagates sound, we are always in "intangible" contact with the sound matter. Therefore the sound experience proposed by "Panacousticon" is a "contactless by default" experience, that nonetheless touches each visitor in the core of its perceptive system (and emotional too).

Satin aluminum, stainless steel, iron, 12 loudspeakers (dimensions 256x155x155cm), audio system (dimensions 56x36x25 cm – duration 60 min. loop)

Satin aluminum, stainless steel, iron, 12 loudspeakers (dimensions 256x155x155cm), audio system (dimensions 56x36x25 cm – duration 60 min. loop)

http://www.michelespanghero.com/works/panacousticon/

https://youtu.be/UO0LLYnSJ9M

www.michelespanghero.com

Michele Spanghero (Gorizia, Italy, 1979)

The artistic activity of Michele Spanghero ranges between the fields of visual and acoustic arts in a versatile and yet consistent way, so as to receive the mention as “Best Young Italian Artist in 2016” according to «Artribune magazine». Spanghero exhibited his works in various international venues such as School of the Art Institute (Chicago, USA), Hyundai Motorstudio (Beijing, China), Museum of Modern Art (Istanbul, Turkey), Darb 1718 Center (Cairo, Egypt), Tuileries Garden (Paris, France), Le Centquatre (Paris, France), MAGASIN Centre National d’Art Contemporain (Grenoble, France), Ars Electronica festival (Linz, Austria), Klangraum (Krems, Austria), Festival Tina-B (Prague, Czech Republic), Technisches Sammlungen (Dresden, Germany), Eufònic Festival (Ulldecona, Spain), Vžigalica Galerija (Ljubljana, Slovenia), Italian Embassy (Brussels, Belgium).
He also exhibited in several institutions in Italy, including 16th Art Quadriennale (Rome), Mart Museum (Rovereto), National Gallery of Umbria (Perugia), Bevilacqua La Masa Foundation (Venice), Palazzo Te (Mantua), Temple of Hadrian (Rome), OGR (Turin) and Miramare Castle (Trieste).
In 2008 he has participated in a one-month artist residency program in MoKS – Mooste (Estonia). From 2007 until 2015 he’s been resident artist at Stazione di Topolò / Postaja Topolove festival (Italy). In 2017 he was Visiting Artist at Sound Department at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago (USA). In 2020 he had a residency a bb15, Linz (Austria).

The work was made in technical partnership with Giovanardi SpA, Italy

Monfalcone, Italy