Sonic Ensemble – Jen Haugen
About the Artwork
Sonic Ensemble is an interactive sonic sculpture and performance piece that creates sound seemingly out of thin air using a combination of the Doppler effect and audio feedback, and aims to push how we use our sonic environment as a compositional tool.
The object itself is a rotating disc with speakers mounted on the front of it, which create feedback patterns when a microphone is held in close proximity to the speakers. The ease of the interaction process means that anyone from young children to adults and the elderly can play with the instrument and generate new sounds without any prior knowledge of music-making.
Positioned at the boundary between sound and music, with sounds that have been described as “otherworldly”, the Ensemble aims to challenge what we consider music, and what we may perceive as noise, while also demonstrating common audio principles to the public in a playful way.
About the Artist
Jen Haugan is a British/Norwegian multidisciplinary designer working within the realms of art and technology, with a particular interest in creating tangible experiences using mediums such as light and sound.
She holds an MA in Information Experience Design from the Royal College of Art, and has exhibited work at venues such as the Sónar+D festival, Barcelona, and IRCAM, Paris, as well as giving talks and sonic performances at venues including the Royal Academy of Arts and IKLECTIK.