selinal-LookingOutward-04

Bending the Arc by Jennifer Wen Ma

https://fluxprojects.squarespace.com/jennifer-wen-ma/

This sound art installation by Jennifer Wen Ma uses the combined voice frequencies of participants speaking into a microphone to raise the visual of the arc. What I admire about this project is the input of interaction in that more participation and louder singing/ speaking, etc. generate a collaborative effort to “raise the arc,” which allows audience members to reflect the action they are performing metaphorically. I was not able to find any explanations of the algorithms Ma used, but what I can assume from witnessing the piece and researching it is that the height of sound frequency is translated to the bending points in the curve drawn, which moves the line up and down.