2024
Composition/Performance for 6 pulse sensors and live electronics in surround sound (8.1). World premiere at cckpt. sound art. data sonification. April 2024. Weltkunstzimmer Düsseldorf.
AIKYAM (Sanskrit: ऐक्यम्) means unity or harmony) is a real-time surround sound work for 1 performer and 5-6 participants (audience) inspired by Kuramoto’s mathematical model of the spontaneous order or synchronization system in nature, e.g. fireflies, heart rates or humans clapping their hands together.
The main concept of AIKYAM is based on research showing that the heartbeats of a small group can be synchronized by deepening our perception of each other.
The heartbeats are measured by finger pulse sensors, the data is transmitted to a computer that transforms the incoming sounds using algorithms programmed in the MAX software to create the desired surround sound environment.
The sound composition consists not only of the heartbeats of the audience and the performer, but also of a selection of different sounds (synthetic and concrete), which are gradually brought to a spontaneous synchronization throughout the piece.
The aim is to bring the whole group into a spontaneous synchronization that creates a connection between the performer and the audience within the immersive sound space, i.e. both the performer’s and the audience’s heartbeats are influenced by each other. The audience and the sound environment are thus connected and interdependent.
The performance is divided into two parts: In the first part, the artist explores two different techniques (apnea and hyperventilation) to transform the sound environment through a sonification process by modifying her own heart rhythm. In the second part, 5-6 participants from the audience are invited to synchronize their heart rhythms by deepening the perception of the other.
This performance was created thanks to a scholarship funded by Musikfonds, Germany.
