Subject:
Trees:
=93Downy Oak" installation, data sonification and ambisonics
Speaker:
Marcus Maeder, ICST Zurich
Place:
Swissnex , San Francisco
Time and Date:
August 13, 2012 7:30 PM
(refreshments at 7:00 PM)
RSVP
Description:
Who knew forests could sing? Sure, there's the occasional rustle of leaves,=
but dig a bit deeper by needling tiny microphones beneath the surface of t=
rees, and there is indeed much more to listen to, and much more to learn. T=
his is exactly what Marcus Maeder, a researcher at the Institute for Comput=
er Music and Sound Technology at the Zurich University of the Arts set out =
to do with Roman Zweifel, a forest and tree expert at the Swiss Federal Ins=
titute for Forest, Snow and Landscape. The two teamed up on the research pr=
oject "trees: Rendering Ecophysiological Processes Audible," which they=92v=
e transformed into a three-dimensional audio installation at swissnex San F=
rancisco from July 25 through August 18.
The resulting trees: Downy Oak is a prototype of a three-dimensional audio =
matrix currently being developed for data sonification experiments. An ambi=
sonics setup carried through a grid of omnidirectional loudspeakers helps b=
ring together and analyse plant measurements and recordings, and creates a =
walk-in forest of sound based on data obtained from a single type of tree, =
the Downy Oak.
This model serves as a tool for scientists to analyse patterns, links, and =
derivations between known sets of data. But it also helps the general publi=
c gain deeper insight into the workings of nature
About the speaker:
Marcus Maeder (http://www.marcusmaeder.net/) studied art at the University =
of Applied Sciences and Arts of Lucerne, in Switzerland, and is currently p=
ursuing a master=92s degree in philosophy at the University of Hagen, in Ge=
rmany. Maeder runs the music label domizil, which he co-founded in 1996 wit=
h Bernd Schurer. He has worked as an editor and producer for the Swiss radi=
o station DRS and has been working as a curator and research associate at t=
he Institute for Computer Music and Sound Technology since 2005. His artist=
ic work focuses mainly on sound art, and on media art extensions of compute=
r music. Maeder has also written on a number of topics in the fields of sou=
nd art and digital media.
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