Description

Ever raised your voice in a crowded room? Ever whispered in an an quiet space? The Sound Governor explores these unconscious social habits in several contexts. As an artificially intelligent being, its one life goal is to maintain a constant level of ambient noise in the room. Like any living creature, it is in a constant state of flux as it struggles to maintain osmotic equilibrium with the world. To do so, it raises or lowers a microphone suspended above a speaker. This amplifies or attenuates its auditory feedback. The more conversation that is taking place in the room, the higher up the microphone. The quieter the room, the lower the microphone. In its physical form, this sculpture plays with the meaning of feedback and its importance in living systems by using cables and ropes that interconnect the support structure, the microphone, the speaker, and the viewer in an interactive symbiotic relationship.

User Scenario

A single viewer enters the room and hears a loud low frequency hum emanating from the piece. She sees the microphone raising and lowering itself in a seemingly “living” manner as the Sound Governor tries to maintain equilibrium with the world and its own bodily functions. As more people fill in the room, the hum subsides as the microphone settles up to the top in a hesitant manner. As people leave one by one, the microphone adjusts itself continually until it is again low above the speaker and producing a loud hum when nobody is around.

Technical Details

The technical details are very simple. Four small electret microphones at the base of the piece feed the ambient noise level into a microcontroller. The microcontroller controls a motor in response that raises or lowers the microphone via pulleys. The microphone is suspended above a large speaker and amplifier. The support structure is in the shape of a wooden teepee. The electronics are covered by a burlap sac.