Whispering Wind, artificial quiet voices in a passage

whispering

Wind can modify the hearing of a spoken voice, due to the faster movement of the air. Carrying air molecules faster, it can generate accidental sounds, also propagating our voice far away or only near, depending on its direction. Fluisterende Wind (Whispering Wind) is a permanent installation by Edwin van der Heide, positioned in a Leiden University’s passage, and consisting of a wall relief emitting an 8-channel generative sound composition, creating “continuum between noise and human voice which results in moments when wind seems to be whispering”. This is accomplished through a real-time spatialisation of the sounds from a library of spoken words, analysed and generated in real time, in a way that they start to whisper. The permanency of this installation induces us to think about the repeated voice patterns, and how people frequently passing might help to form a temporary homogeneous whispering environment.

 

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