hellbox installation -

there are a group of sound objects hung in a room at head and body level in some arrangement that allows for movement of people between them. some are pickups - physical objects with contact mics, or resonant vessels that have small microphones inside. the other objects are homemade metal speakers (resonant media with a speaker driver attached at a useful location). these play processed soundfiles generated from a Max/MSP or Supercollider patch. there are also two to four regular speakers in the room big but not loud all the time at least. these play feedback generated from the pickups.

the pickups feed into a stereo midi-controllable mixer that is automated by the patch in use on the computer, and set into feedback via the regular PA speakers. the levels are trimmed so that at its loudest it begins to feedback at a slightly uncomfortable level without going off completely. their spatial location and overall level is controlled via midi, so the sound moves as it become audible and takes form in pitch and texture, elements that are partly dependent on the materials and also their location in the acoustic space of the gallery, and partly on the ambient signals that are nearby that cause interference and harness resonance.
the master output of the midi mixer is analyzed in the computer patch for pitch and amplitude, which controls the processing and playback of the soundfiles. so the feedback from the pickups directs the soundfiles, which are played by physical filters into a space and picked up again by the pickups. control feedback as well as analog/ acoustic feedback.

when people approach a sound object, it changes from being played at feedback level to sensing level, and the viewer can play them to make sound. there would be a proximity sensor at a useful position on or around each object for this. also a video camera overhead, which controls the spatialization of the sounds based on analysis that looks at each individual's location in the room and maps it to individual soundfile playback in the metal speakers. sounds are chosen to accompany individuals in the space, and move around them in an attract-and-repel magnetism. the more the merrier.

on the wall in large letters as the public comes to buy tickets or enter :: RESIST THE URGE TO BEAT INCESSANTLY / THINK VIBRATIONS NOT PERCUSSIONS / BE NICE TO RESONANT MEDIA / NO METAL AROUND THE GLASS. special ropes around the glass with more signs NO METAL. little helpful signs of how to use it (ACOUSTIC - clap your hands etc, or PHYSICAL - touch me baby, or try the metal doodad on the bottom)

hellbox refers to the printer's collection box for broken type, and here i use it instead to refer to abandoned recordings and objects, things and sounds that i can't get rid of but don't have a real use for in everyday life. some people recoil from the space is if it is a hell, but others bathe in it, or play the things wildly.