Ondulation, by Thomas McIntosh, is a composition for water, sound and light. It employs a two ton pool of water which is set into motion using sound. Beams of light are projected onto the surface of the water and reflect onto a projection screen. The pool becomes a “liquid mirror” that is slowly sculpted into perfect three-dimensional expressions of a musical composition. In turn, the light on the screen is modulated by the movement of the water into complex visual forms which maintain perfect congruity with their musical source. The resulting fusion of sensory experiences is a temporal sculpture: a construction of water, sound and light which evolves as a composition in time.

“We enter a room and are plunged into semi-darkness. The room is dominated by an immense basin of water, ripples radiating across its surface in concentric rings. Intuitively we know that the sounds around us are closely related to the ripples, a fact reinforced by the water’s reflected movements on the surrounding walls through a sophisticated play of light. As we get closer, it becomes clear that the sounds are emanating from speakers concealed under the basin, the source of the ripples on the water’s surface. The water acts as a medium in the sense that it acts as middle ground: stimulated by the sound and swept by the beams of light, it produces richly evocative reflections. A latent photographic metaphor is at play in the installation: the water seems to take on the properties of a sensitive plate, with the sound imprinted upon it and revealed by the movement and stunning reflections projected on the walls. Video.

Presented as a “temporal sculpture,” Ondulation (2002), (1) a composition for water, sound and light, was created by Thomas McIntosh in collaboration with composer and friend Emmanuel Madan (the pair go by the pseudonym [The User]) (2) and Mikko Hynnimen, a sound designer, lighting specialist, scenic artist and composer based in Helsinki, Finland. The installation is an extension of finale (2001), the final work created in the Silophone (3) project. During finale, various solids, liquids and gases were placed into large loudspeakers and set into motion by audio signals produced with a computer. McIntosh and Madan thus established a direct relationship between the surface of the water placed in the speaker and the sounds emitted. Waves of sound were translated into waves of water. Likewise, changes in sound intensity and the addition of other frequencies created corresponding alterations in the water’s surface.” Continue reading Thomas McIntosh, Ondulation by J.P., Daniel Langlois Foundation. Ondulation is at DEAF 07.