Stunned
 
      

 

Click to launch the project

LAUNCH PROJECT

An interview with Loftus
and a sound sculpture
from the piece may be
found on the
RTE site

 

 

 

 

 

 


The object of this work was to capture emotions from across the globe as mp3 sound, a call was sent across the web inviting people to send their thoughts/feelings as an MP3 file, the resulting work has both a physical and virtual presence.

The sounds (accompanied by time, place and emotion) were collected via e- mail and involve 80 artists including pieces by, Marjetica portc, Loftus, Daniel Figgis and Ward Weis. Subject matter is irrelevant insofar as it's in the ear of the beholder.

A 120 year old piano in a basement in Dublin creates constant new soundsculpture through interaction with the public, the computer interface is replaced by sampling keyboard disguised to blend into it's new host. Each note triggers an mp3, each mixing of these sounds creates a different soundsculpture dependant on which artists the user interacts with and the force, timing and grouping with which the notes are struck.

The speakers are placed in such a way that the sounds travel above, below and all around the person playing, to give the feeling of movement from place to place.

The sounds vary from pieces deliberately written for abode to bites of life and death such as a children's choir caught in an earthquake in ljubljana 1963, a 70's pinball machine in N.Y. or the Dutch nazi youth call to arms.

Each sample is accompanied by it's time, place and emotion which were printed and left like sheet music on top of the piano. The inclusion of these three definitions gave a better insight to the overall thoughts and feelings behind each piece.

The web is not evident as the technical end is hidden so as to make the experience more personal, just sitting in a candlelit room playing and mixing feelings from randomly selected lives. Pieces of spontaneous work and samples can be played and listened to from the website.

 


Paul Loftus Murnaghan has spent his life making art in one form or another. At present he develops artistic concepts using multimedia at Arthouse in Dublin. He has bounced from fronting a band on MTV to designing for top fashion labels, advising international corporations on artistic practice and his own solo gallery exhibitions, in no particular order. He lives and works in Dublin, Ireland.

©stunned.org 2003