ode to Heisenberg + De Maria (HDM)

ode to Heisenberg + De Maria (HDM) is an immersive and interactive sound environment. Sound, recorded in the Peruvian Amazon, is edited into a 24-hour cyclical spatialized sound environment, layered with human heartbeats. The time of day in the exhibition is synchronized to the time of day in the Amazon recording. Thus, if we arrive to experience HDM at 11:00, we are listening to 11:00 in the Amazon, with our entire body. As visitors move through the sound of the Amazon, the sound of their heartbeat follows them, via the nearest speaker, by means of a locationally tracked electrocardiogram (ECG/EKG). For instance, if one participant is on one side of the room, and a friend on the other, each would hear only their own heartbeat, but not the other’s. As each participant moves closer to one another, each heartbeat of each participant, becomes audible to both parties.

HDM consists of two ingredients:

An immersive field recording from the Amazon is edited into a 24-hour composition, that plays in loops. This composition was created by rendering 21 sound sculptures that create the "whole" of the experience of being in the Amazon. For example, the sound of thunder is sent to a pillar like sculpture, in the center of the room where the size and shape is determined by me, via software. When it thunders in the Amazon recording, the pillar expands and contracts with the changes in the frequency and gain of the thunder sound. This pillar is simply sound in space, expanding and contracting; nothing visible exists. The time of day in the exhibition is synchronized to the time of day in the Amazon recording. Thus, if one arrives to experience HDM at 17:00, we are listening to 17:00 in the Amazon, with our entire body.

The second ingredient is interactive. As visitors enter the immersive sound space, they are outfitted with a locationally tracked ECG. Each ECG monitors each participant’s heart rate and physical position in the space. Beats per minute and location information is sent back into the sound system, creating an audible heartbeat only through the nearest speaker to the participant, in sync with the participant’s beating heart. During the exhibition, visitors are invited to stay as little and as long as they like. Overnight sessions, in which visitors can sleep in the space, are also available. Wearing the ECG is not necessary to participate.

For more information, please visit: https://www.alyssamiserendino.com/ode-to-heisenberg-de-maria/

About the artist: https://www.alyssamiserendino.com/about-alyssa

IMAGES:

• Cover Photo: The Spatial Sound Institute: Where the 24-hour, 21 sound sculpture of the Amazon sound was composed, and tested with participants. (Budapest, Hungry)

• Below: Setup for the collection of 60 hours of field recordings, from inside a tambo. (Outside the town of Llanchama, Peru)

• Below: Heart recordings via a swallowed microphone, recorded by Rollin Weary. (Chicago, Illinois)