's 43-hour
String Quartet(s) at the
Cobar Sound Chapel (2022), with loudspeakers in the four walls Sound installation is an
intermedia and time-based art form. It is an expansion of an
art installation in the sense that it includes the sound element and therefore the time element. The main difference with a sound sculpture is that a sound installation has a three-dimensional space and the axes with which the different sound objects are being organized are not exclusively internal to the work, but also external. A work of art is an installation only if it makes a dialog with the surrounding space. A sound installation is usually
site-specific, but sometimes it can be readapted to other spaces. It can be made either in closed or open spaces, and context is fundamental in determining how a sound installation will be aesthetically perceived. The difference between a regular
art installation and a sound installation is that the latter contains a time element which gives the visiting public the option to stay longer to explore the development of the sound over time. This temporal factor also gives the audience an incentive to explore the space more thoroughly and investigate the disposition of the different sounds in space. Sound installations sometimes use interactive art technology (
computers,
sensors,
mechanical and
kinetic devices, etc.), but they can also simply use sound sources placed at different points in space (such as
speakers), or acoustic instrument materials such as piano strings played by a performer or by the public. In the context of museums, this combination of
interactive digital technology and multi-channel speaker distribution is sometimes referred to as
sound scenography.
Sound structure in sound installations • The simplest sound form is a repeating
sound loop. This is mostly used in
Ambient music-like art, and in this case the sound is not the determinant factor of the art work. • The most used sound structure is the
open form, since the public can decide to experience a sound installation for just a few minutes or for a longer period of time. This obliges the artist to construct a sound organization that is capable of working well in both cases. • There is also the possibility to have a linear sound structure, where sound develops in the same way as in a
musical composition. This type of structure can be seen in interactive sound installations like "The Zone," created by the collaborative group Volumetric Units, which explores the phenomenological experience of hyperreal cyberspace ==Sound sculpture==