Soundlighter is a perpetually self generative audiovisual installation focused on exploring the relationship between light and sound and their mutual influence in real time.
Based on the principles of cymatics and the visualisation of sound but also making a step further and synthesizing sound from a projected image using light reactive waveform synthesizers, ideated and developed especially for this project.
Using liquid as a medium for the visualization of sound waves which transform its surface into a dance of reflections and shadows, the resulting image is projected onto a curved mirror and in turn reflected onto a projection screen.
Behind the screen ,a total of one hundred and twenty photoresistors, divided into four sensor modules, stimulated by the changing ratios of light and shadow in the image, synthesize a waveform resulting into a realtime sound output. A speaker, placed underneath the container makes the sound waves act upon the surface of the liquid again, thus completing the repeating cycle of ever changing light and sound textures.
The complex relationship between image and sound creates an environment that is both based on the physicality of matter, but also transcends the reality of the physical space.
Once the visitor decides to enter the installation, he finds himself immersed in constantly changing surroundings, not knowing exactly how the process started, and what brought the system to the state that he or she is witnessing.
The visitor is left to his or her own curiosity, free to choose whether to remain a passive viewer or to take action and become a dominant participant. By physically influencing the amount of available light falling onto the light reactive synthesizers or stimulating them with an additional light source, the process can become much clearer, allowing the visitor to distinguish between the individual elements of the installation and momentarily alter its course only to let it return to its own ever-changing loop.
