Report from SMC’07, Lefkada, Greece

Notice should be given to the interactive sound installation by Tom Mays, “Acousmeaucorps”, at the foyer of the Culture Centre (where most of the events took place): a rare example of a installation that invites musicianship, without agonizing those who are not prepared for that depth of interaction. By this I mean, that it succeeds in making sense at many levels, for many people, for many kinds of interaction. If somebody distractedly runs through the 10- squaremeter space delimited by four speakers, the installation seems to react as if it wanted to catch and hold the runner; if children spend some time discovering what kind of movement will make it sound, and what kind will make it stop, the installation cheerfully invites such playfulness; if someone, like myself, wishes to indulge in taiji-like motion, investigating the grid of time- dependent ‘virtual buttons’, it answers logically, without for a moment letting me down with deceiving randomness; but still, in the hands (and body) of Mays, the installation provides for yet more levels of sound control... very inspiring indeed.

PerMagnus Lindborg, August 2007

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