Sonic Sculpture, a talk and workshop by sound artist Taras Mashtalir was held on April 16 as part of CYLAND Educational Program at the Taiga in St. Petersburg. These series of presentations by artists has already proven the need and desire in Media Art education proposed by the audience. Sonic Sculpture was dedicated to ephemeral yet very important sound-based media.
Mashtalir defined the concept of sonic sculpture and make an argument why this idea is important for an urban environment. A related concept of sonic ecology was also discussed as being crucial to understanding aural impact in our lives.
In artist’s view, sonic sculpture is a multimedia artifact that consists of an urban sculpture, static or kinetic, accompanied by sound design in a multichannel configuration.
The purpose of such a soundscape is to breath life into static sculptures and create harmonious sonic aesthetics in the urban environment. Basically by adding the sound design to an urban sculpture we enhance its artistic effect like a soundtrack does in a motion picture.
Mashtalir showed how interactivity can provide engagement from the public with descriptive examples from his artwork. He proposed that by introducing the sound design to an urban sculpture we refine its microclimate and eliminate the sonic pollution. It can be done by embracing the sounds of the city and including them in a composition that becomes a soundscape.
