Spatial Sound Institute
The Spatial Sound Institute is a research and development centre for spatial sound technologies and practices based in Budapest, Hungary. Since its opening in October 2015, the Institute hosts a multidisciplinary programme cultivating spatial sound as an emerging area of study. Housed over 3 floors of the AQB arts complex on the banks of the river Danube, the facility is centred around a large-scale 4DSOUND studio used for artist residencies, educational workshops and regular public events. The Institute also maintains an historical archive of works created in 4DSOUND over the past decade, with projects and publications from over a hundred contributors in the fields of music, technology, architecture and media arts.
The Artist Residency Programme 2021 at the Spatial Sound Institute in Budapest, Hungary, calls for creators from a variety of disciplines to submit proposals for the development of new pedagogical approaches that make use of spatial sound technologies and listening-based practices. Participants of the programme will be trained on how to work with the system throughout the residency, including regular lectures and one-on-one mentoring sessions by expert users of the 4DSOUND system. The residency is designed for artists to work on their proposed project in individual studio sessions, while receiving ongoing technical support and regular scheduled guidance on creative development and evaluation.
The Spatial Sound Institute documents and archives the working process and outcomes of the residency for publication throughout its public channels and offers public and professional communication about the work to international institutions, audiences and press.
Since its inception in 2015, the Spatial Sound Institute has become a centre for learning, representing a diverse spectrum of individuals and groups, that fuse a broad range of abilities, experiences and information into shared goals. Their activities are a response to cultural and technological shifts that elevate the importance of sound through the listening habits. The residency projects centralise the need for interdisciplinary exploration that could construct bridges over the uncharted areas of underexplored topics concerning sound and feature a broad spread of topics and presentation modes that seek to re-examine and to adopt a more critical attitude within the model of what is called the Ecology of Listening.
The Ecology of Listening strives for deeper awareness of the nature and presence of sound through a spatial listening practice that is intuitively available to us if we train our ears, and which can influence the state of our interpersonal, social and environmental fields. Under this philosophy, the organisers have hosted the previous residency programmes and continue to probe further. Works created by artists, architects, researchers, engineers and developers have showcased several emancipatory forms of participation that provide significant inspiration to address the key areas of study:
- Sonic Architecture ︎
- Human Space Interaction Design
- Physiology and Psychology of Listening
- Spatial Memetics
The organisers expect co-operation and peer-education among participants of different backgrounds, experiences and interests as a significant source of inspiration and a critical aspect of the Artist Residency Programme. Although they expect all participants to think of certain outcomes for their residency, they strongly encourage the asking of question(s) as the core driving force of the residency. Interdisciplinary learning has a foundational insight: develop a hypothesis or an approach that is personal, inquisitive and challenging. From previous residencies, the insights that they have drawn is that participants who engaged with this attitude of questioning were more likely to unlock and accomplish more from their projects that would tend not to be realized otherwise.
In this desired view, the residency culminates in a presentation of the project, mutually agreed upon by the participant and the Spatial Sound Institute which can take several forms, including but not limited to live performance, interactive installation, sound sculpture or workshops - as well as a publication, prototype product, methodology, instrument, interface or software module and may be subject to change due to progressive insight during the residency process.
The central studio of the Spatial Sound Institute houses a large-scale omnidirectional sound system designed by 4DSOUND, custom-built into the renovated architecture of the warehouse. Throughout the studio space - spanning up to 10m high and 300sqm wide - are installed 36 omnidirectional speakers floating from the ceiling, above head-height and underneath an acoustically transparent platform, suspended 3m above the floor. In addition, it has 6 omnidirectional subwoofers and 18 tactile vibro-acoustic transducers.
The unique acoustical design of the studio provides an environment where sounds can move around, above and beneath, hover in the far distance or come intimately close to the body. Encouraged to explore the space, listeners can freely move through a physical environment of sounds.
The studio runs on 4DSOUND software that can be accessed through a set of Max4Live devices in Ableton Live and controlled with an iPad using custom patches in Lemur. A range of sensory platforms is integrated with the 4DSOUND system including haptic feedback, gesture- and motion control systems, bio-wearable media, mixed reality and location tracking that can be used to interface with the sonic space.
Participants of the Artist Residency Programme are provided to live and work at the Institute during their stay in comfortably furnished rooms. The rooms are 25 sqm each and connected by a shared living room, kitchen, showers and bathrooms.
Daily a two-course vegan lunch is provided for the residents by the in-house chef Szilvia Toth as well as a variation of sourdough breads baked by Janos at PékEmber, the in-house bakery. Eating together takes up an important part in the collective life at the Institute, the daily moment for exchange of ideas and lively conversations that spark across the table.
The Spatial Sound Institute is housed inside the interdisciplinary arts complex Art Quarter Budapest, a 6-story reclaimed warehouse overlooking the Danube. Participants of the programmes can use the buildings and public spaces across the entire AQB complex, including project spaces and a roof terrace.
The Institute is located in the area of Budafok, an old wine-producing region in southern Budapest. The banks of the river Danube can be reached from the Complex within a 5-minute walk. The former brewery built in 1860 in the area of Budafok was revitalised ten years ago as an interdisciplinary art & research centre hosting studios and residencies. The large AQB properties near the river Danube provide a unique setting to the Artist Residency programme. They create an atmosphere in which artists can concentrate on their own work, while they can also integrate into Budapest’s lively contemporary art scene.