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Verstappen's interactive public art installations combine multiple sensory stimuli with scientific and artistic principles. Each installation requires the viewer to interact with the piece in order to unlock the different messages. By interacting with the piece each viewer also plays a role in a scientific demonstration that teaches basic laws of science and the arts. Tri-Monic requires the viewer to interact with the installation through sound and music.
Physicality The three 12 foot tall wedge shape pieces create a classical equilateral triangle both vertically and horizontally. The flat black exteriors and strange wedge shapes gives the piece an ominous futuristic ambiance. The inner curves designate an inner circle that intuitively invites the viewer into the center of the installation. Inside the installation the viewer is surrounded on three sides by curved triangular white screens. A podium outside the installation gives the following cryptic instructions:
Functionality Standing in the center of the installation the viewer using either his or her own voice, or any type of musical instrument, can sing or play different notes. Each wedge is programmed to respond to only a specific set of notes. When the correct note is sung or played then the wedge tuned to that note will activate. When the wedge is activated the screen will light up and flicker and strobe at the same frequency as the note being played. Simultaneously, the wedge will play its own tone tuned to the third interval, lower octave of the viewer’s note. The result is that the wedge will play in harmony with the viewer. By singing a song or playing a tune, all three wedges will we be activated according to the specific notes of each tune so that the display will be as different as every song is different.. Each viewer, by singing or playing with to the Tri-Monic, also becomes part of a performance art exhibit. Since the wedges are programmed to respond only to the correct orchestral pitches, singers must sing in near perfect pitch. Tri-Monic can thus be used to train vocalists in correct pitch control. Musical instruments must be properly tuned as well and musicians can also use the Tri-Monic to tune their instruments.
In addition, three singers standing in the center can sing three notes in harmony to create a chord, that would activate all three wedges simultaneously. A musician using a stringed instrument to play a chord can also activate all the wedges simultaneously.
Philosophy Tri-Monic is a play on the words Triangle, Harmonic and Electronics. Triangle In architecture and design, the triangle is the most stable of forms. The use of four equilateral triangles in the construction gives the installation a primal sense of stability. It also allows the artist to maximize the impact spatially while using the least amount of material. In addition, both music and color are based on tertiary relationships to create both audio and visual harmony. Harmonics In music, harmony is based upon the intervals [i] used in constructing the chords used in that harmony. Most chords used in western music are based on "tertial" harmony, or chords built with the interval of thirds. In the chord C Major7, C-E is a major third; E-G is a minor third; and G to B is a major third. Thus each of the three wedges plays a third interval tone of its programmed response note to create harmony with the viewer.[ii] Electronics There are two classic electronics circuits used in Tri-Monic. The first is called the limiting gate circuit whereby only a specific frequency can fit through an electronic gate to close the circuit. For example the tone known as concert pitch A above middle C when recorded by a microphone would produce an electronic frequency of 440 Hz. The electronic gate programmed to this frequency would only activate when the viewer produces a Concert A tone. The second circuit is typically know as a light organ. This is also a gate type circuit but whereas the previous circuit only responds to one frequency, this circuit responds to all frequencies. The circuit of a light organ separates the audio signal into frequency bands and controls the lights behind the screens according to the average level of each band using dimmers. Construction Interior frame made from furniture grade 2X4 beam construction with a bolt-on exterior shell made from 3/4'” plywood and Mylar laminate. Screens constructed of ½ inch thick interlocking opaque Plexiglas panels. The result is weatherproof and tamper proof suitable for both indoor and outdoor display. Uni-directional microphones are hidden in the top inner curve of each wedge and are ‘aimed’ towards the center of the installation. [i] An interval is the relationship between two separate musical pitches. For example, in the melody "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star", the first two notes (the first "twinkle") and the second two notes (the second "twinkle") are at the interval of one fifth. What this means is that if the first two notes were the pitch "C", the second two notes would be the pitch "G"—four scale notes, or seven chromatic notes (a perfect fifth), above it. Therefore, the combination of notes with their specific intervals—a chord—creates harmony. For example, in a C chord, there are three notes: C, E, and G. The note "C" is the root, with the notes "E" and "G" providing harmony. [ii] See Stefan's Tubular Zen based on the alternative pentatonic scale musical harmony |
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All artwork and images by S.H.Verstappen, All Rights reserved 2003.