Emma NM-LO-10

Sonic Playground (2018) – Yuri Suzuki Design

Sonic Playground was an outdoor sound installation in Atlanta, Georgia that features colorful sculptures that modify and transmit sound in an unusual but playful way. I admire how the art installation engages the community in an art experience and gives people the opportunity to explore how sound is constructed, altered, and experienced. I like that it is for all people, regardless of age. Anyone can enjoy it. The installation itself is not computational, but they used Rhinoceros 3D to create a raytracing tool that allows the user to choose certain aspects of the sounds path. Users could “select a sound source and send sound in a certain direction or towards a certain geometry, in this case the shape of the acoustic mirrors or the bells at the start and end of the pipes to see how the sound is reflected and what is the interaction with the object.”

The artist’s creativity comes out in the path and shapes he chose for the final sculptures, thus influencing the sound that comes out. He decided which sounds were more interesting and the path it takes to make that sound.