Move over John Cage, it’s the Bacterial Orchestra
Posted by: Emily Cornwell, in Art & Technology
A group of Swedish artists recently developed the Bacterial Orchestra, a musical organism made of audio “cells”. Each cell is made of a microphone and a loudspeaker, and is programmed to record ambient sounds and play back the recordings in sync with the noise it picks up. Each cell is programmed slightly differently, so the orchestra’s performance constantly changes and reacts to the audience.
The conception of the work clearly draws from the work of John Cage, a twentieth-century composer known for creating “chance music”. Cage’s groundbreaking work 4′33” is a three movement piece during which the performer sits silently, allowing the sounds of the performance hall to become the composition. Cage’s career was driven by his desire to find new sounds and move beyond the traditional model of composition in which a composer is the controlling authority.
The Bacterial Orchestra, developed by Olle Cornéer, Christian Hörgren and Martin Lübcke, was unveiled in 2006 at New Media Meeting in Norrköping. Although the orchestra currently has 16 cells, the artists hope the project will continue to evolve and increase in size. Help them out by adopting a cell.
Read more at We Make Money Not Art
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