Concept: Audialsense (Paul Bavister / Jason Flanagan / Ian Knowles)

Coding: Paul Bavister

The churning of the ocean of milk

The Diary of a Derelict Dairy
3 July – 13 July, 10am – 7am
The Dairy
Wakefield Street
London, WC1 N

Commission for the London Festival of Architecture
July 2008.

This installation uses ‘sound’ to clearly define previously intangible physical phenomena.

Sound is defined by wavelength. In this room are three predominant wavelengths, defined by a sine wave. Each sine wave corresponds to the width, length and height of the room.

In addition to these wavelengths, is a scrolling sine wave, oscillating between the resonant frequencies of milk churns left in the room.

When the scrolling wave passes the resonant frequency of the milk churns, the churns start to ‘Sing’. This is a result of standing waves forming within the churn.

This technique of getting vessels to ‘sing’ has been used as a performance tool by Alvin Lucier, and was originally used in Greek auditoria and Ottoman mosques to generate ‘resonance’.

This installation however, addresses issues of site, sound and ‘artifact’ to create an immersive spatial experience.

Audialsense would like to thank Minnie Weisz and JBL professional for their support and encouragement in this project.

Assistance was kindly provided by Paula Friar & Kibwe Tavres