filmachine is a multichannel spatial audio and visual installation by artists Keiichiro Shibuya and Takashi Ikegami currently installed at the Podewils'sches Palais (ex Tesla) in Berlin, for Transmediale 2008. The description on the transmediale website goes as follows:
filmachine places the visitor inside a vortex of sound and light that transcends the traditional perspective of the cinematic experience. Three circles of loudspeakers are suspended from the ceiling above an abstract landscape. On entering the space, the visitor starts the composition with a button at the center of the piece, triggering an immersive audio-visual experience in a 3-dimensional soundscape, enhanced by a specially designed LED lighting system. For the exhibition in Berlin, Keiichiro Shibuya creates a new composition which is presented here as a world premiere.
Nick Mariette of Sonic Surrounds thoughtfully discusses the installation "filmachine" at this year's Transmediale:
"For me one of the immediate intrigues is the way the artists have encouraged visitors to explore the physical (and virtual aural) space through the use of the constructed topography. The blocks seem designed to attract people to move through different points within the soundfield - and to stay a while in various places - standing or possibly sitting on the edges of each zone. The use of different height zones within the soundfield also gives vertical perspective and highlights the 3D-ness of the virtual aural space - which is not just 2D spatial audio like many installations."
Originally posted on sonic surrounds by nmariette
