Sound Modulated Light #1

Sound Modulated Light #1 is a participative environment in which the visitors are invited to explore and interact with the space. The work consists of an environment of light and sound in which sound is not present acoustically, but is radiated by light. Normal lamps connected to the electricity network flicker at an nearly invisible frequency of 50 Hz. This can be seen as a carrier for a 50 Hz sound. For the installation, this signal is being replaced by different composed signals. Hence the lights function as sound carriers. The space consists of a multiple-light design where every light source has a double role: it is part of the light design and part of the sound design. The sound is modulated on top of the light by means of intensity modulation. Visitors to the installation get a special hand-held device with light sensors that makes the modulated light audible as sound on a headphone - in other words, a light receiver instead of a radio receiver. The balance between the different sounds depends on the intensity of the light 'picked up' by the receiver. The sound changes according to the movements of the visitor because every light radiates a different sound. The space itself is dynamically transformed over time. The light composition evolves, and the interrelated sound composition does so as well.