Sounding Door (2009) – Julijonas Urbonas

interactive sound installation
Terfenol-D-based sound transducer, subwoofer, audio amplifier, capacitive rotary encoder, custom electronics & software.
50′, programming: Julijonas Urbonas, Sebastian Lexer; compositions: Andrea Vigani, Augustas Ribokas, Franziska Windisch, Frauke Schmidt, Julijonas Urbonas, Vincent Wikström
commissioned by: “Vilnius – European Capital of Culture 2009”
Julijonas Urbonas

Julijonas Urbonas

* 1981 in Klaipeda (LT), lives in Vilnius (LT) and London (GB)

Sounding Door is an interactive sound installation that transforms any door into an idiosyncratic musical instrument and any place into a stage. The movements of the door, its position, speed and degree of acceleration, determine the sound it produces. The Lithuanian designer, artist, writer and engineer Julijonas Urbonas uses custom-designed electronics and software in the installation.

In a time when designers are busy perfecting the sounds of cornflakes and hair dryers, the sound of architecture is still all too seldom discussed, maintains Urbonas. For Sounding Door he asked composers, musicians, sound designers and sound artists the question: “Why do we choose a door for our home based on its visual characteristics alone and not, for instance, on the particular sound of its hinges?” More than 100 compositions were submitted in reply. Urbonas has chosen five pieces for this exhibition; each plays for ten minutes every hour.

www.julijonasurbonas.lt

Sound sequence: The sound of the creaking door of the Lithuanian Academy of Music in Vilnius