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Art Takes Wing with Harman at Broadgate
A three-dimensional audio experience greeted visitors to London’s Broadgate Arena earlier this month when United Technologies Corporation (UTC) put into place an art installation commissioned from American sound artist Stephen Vitiello.
As UTC’s official partners, Harman Pro UK supplied the multichannel sound system, which was designed by Arup (www.arup.com) in collaboration with Vitiello and housed in an open air, geodesic dome situated in the terraced public space near Liverpool Street Station. Harman’s acoustic designer Tom Williams with contractors Middlesex Sound and Lighting installed the system, which incorporated 19 JBL Professional Control 29 AVI premium indoor and outdoor monitor speakers, four JBL Control BS210 Dual 10” subwoofers and three Crown CTS 8200 Series power amplifiers.
Entitled The Smallest of Wings, Vitiello’s installation created an environment of sound built on field recordings of bird and moth wings from locations including the Amazon, upstate New York and Virginia. It ran continuously from June 4th to 8th and visitors were able to download a digital sample to a wireless device via Bluetooth technology.
“I try to make people think about their surroundings with my work, to slow them down,” Vitiello says. “I brought these sounds in to penetrate the iron and steel of the City, but no one sound fought another. Where tension arose between London’s noises and the sounds in the piece, there existed the possibility for balance and the creation of something unique and powerful.”
Vitiello’s installation was the first time UTC had brought its Public Arts project to Europe. The project, launched in 2005, is designed to celebrate the corporation’s 25 years of arts support. The Smallest of Wings continues UTC’s Cities in Transition theme that was explored in photography in 2006 when artists Chuck Close, Mitch Epstein, and Dayanita Singh turned their lenses on New York, Boston, and Hartford, Connecticut. The artists created new work that captured America’s urban evolution, ranging from immigrants’ experiences to the impact of automobiles to the dynamics of urban decay and renewal. In 2005, UTC commissioned painters Alex Katz, Gary Hume and Lisa Sanditz to create works displayed on billboards throughout New York City.
"UTC's products support cities,” said UTC chairman and CEO George David. From Otis elevators to Carrier air conditioning to Chubb and Kidde first security systems, we work to make buildings safe, efficient and comfortable. Cars and transport powered by our fuel cells are just coming to market and will take absolutely all of the harmful emissions out of these vehicles. Public art celebrates cities and is its own reason for why we participate.”
In picture: the installation at Broadgate (left) seen from above, and (right) configuring the speakers in the installation.
2nd July 2007
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