Installations

Under Construction

Bee Swarms is a collaborative, computer-based, large scale environmental performance/installation for laptop orchestra. The piece represents an innovative collaborative endeavor, where a diverse array of laptop performers converge to orchestrate and synthesize an immersive auditory experience reminiscent of the bustling activity of a natural bee swarm near, or in a beehive. Central to the project’s essence is the collective synergy and self-organization exhibited by the participating agents, who essentially have to synthesize the components for the development of a rudimentary, yet intriguing musical intelligence.

It’s important to underscore that while the project celebrates collective creativity, it does not advocate for the complete autonomy of its participants. Instead, a delicate balance is maintained through the establishment of simple, localized rules that guide individual actions. There is not though any sort of overarching control structure dictating global behaviors. Within this framework, performers act within the realm of basic principles such as separation, alignment, and cohesion. These fundamental parameters serve as both theoretical constructs and technical tools, providing a fertile ground for the exploration of virtual behaviors and the creation of an unpredictable sonic landscape.

As performers interact within this dynamic environment, their actions become interwoven, giving rise to intricate patterns and harmonies that transcend the capabilities of any single agent. The Bee Swarms project not only showcases the potential of collective intelligence in musical expression but also serves as a tribute to the boundless creativity that arises from an open, decentralized collaboration.

Radio Polytope is a hybrid between a sound installation and a large-scale sonic happening inspired by the work of Iannis Xenakis. A generative algorithmic engine is composing and re-arranging an infinite stream of audio data, transmitted through a custom-made web radio station. A variable-sized group of people, at any geographic location in the world, can join the transmission and participate in the diffusion of the sound by using their mobile smart devices. Each audience member is becoming an individual sound emitter, contributing to and shaping the final soundscape.

Reflecting on my own experiences with radio, I belong, probably, to the last generation who grew up listening to FM radio on a daily basis. Buying a Cd, vinyl, or tape cassette was expensive in the 80s. I remember waiting for week(s) to buy my next album. At those times radio used to be our best friend. Nowadays, music is everywhere (Spotify, Deezer, YouTube, etc). There is instant availability for everything. The audience decides on the piece or sequence of pieces they listen to at any moment (usually skipping tracks and getting only a glimpse at each composition). Radio had -and still has- the magic attribute of offering an unpredictable and unknown experience. Even in the process of scanning through radio bands, one can never know what music will be discovered and which will be the next piece of sound. The control of the music flow is falling out of the hands of the listener. Radio polytope takes this attribute as a starting point and builds a narrative around it. The audience becomes a performing body distributing unpredictable sounds in a particular space

I have always been fascinated by the idea of transmitting audio data remotely. From operating a local pirate FM transmitter, up to sending audio and telemetry data to the lunar orbiters, the concept of reaching remote places by audio (covering long distances in special formats/codecs and then being converted back into audible sound) has always made me feel thrilled. There is something mysterious in transcoding the sound while it is transmitted through any medium (air, internet, vacuum) and then decoding it back into musical sound. Radio broadcasting has a polytope nature per se. One transmitter is reaching out to many (sometimes thousands or even millions) receivers, communicating thoughts, sounds, and emotions simultaneously and at various geographical locations. This way unknown groups of people turn into a virtually integrated audience. The sense that many unknown people are experiencing the same event is possibly the most significant part and the beauty of listening to the radio!

When I started experimenting with web-based audio streaming, I realized that a drawback of the technology used nowadays in audio servers, the latency across the tuned devices, can be used creatively. Tiny and discrete gestural changes in the audio signal that is transmitted can build a “liquid” form and enhance/demonstrate the spatial, 3D dimension of sound just by being decoded and played with slight time shifts across the members that participate in the happening.

I hope you will enjoy being part of this installation. All you have to do is to bring your mobile phone out of your pocket, connect to the stream and walk around. More essentially though, you are invited to listen to all of the nuances of sound that are created by yourselves becoming little drops into a bigger cloud of a sound rain.

Dimitris Maronidis

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Instructions

• If you plan to organize a performance of the sound installation / happening, please get in contact in advance to set up, calibrate and fine-tune the details beforehand
• It is highly recommended to use external Bluetooth speakers if you intend to perform this outdoors
• Scan the QR code below or visit http://polytope.maronidis.net and press play to start the stream on your smart device

• Feel free to move around. Preferably in a slow and silent way
• You are free to alter the volume of your smart device. This will influence the spatiality of sound
• You are free to move and/or change the orientation of your smart device. This might alter the frequency content of the sound
• You are advised to listen deeply to how the sound is diffused into the space!

Multiplexing /Πολυπλεξία/ is a Kinetic Sound Installation created in 2019. It is made of plywood, Arduino micro-controller, lip-gloss boxes, DC motors and magnets.

In telecommunications and computer networks, multiplexing (MUX) is a method in which multiple analog or digital signals are combined into one over a shared medium. The aim is usually to share a scarce resource. For example, in telecommunications, several telephone calls may be carried using one wire. Multiplexing originated in telegraphy in the 1870s, and is now widely applied in communications. 
In this particular work, the idea of MUX is transferred into the sound domain. A series of logically performed processes are channeled and distributed through a transistor array, activating a matrix of micro-sound sources thus building a large, mechanically generated, sound-cloud. Each cell of the system is becoming a part of a larger sound body. Each voice, no matter how infinitesimal,  matters in order to build a collective sound-set. The work symbolically refers to the unity that we all need -in these dark days- in our world.

The piece was premiered at MOMus-Experimental Center for the Arts at the port of Thessaloniki on May 2019. (www.cact.gr) as a part of the exhibition Visual Symphonies 

Since 22 June 2020 Multiplexing belongs to the permanent collection of MOMus Museum of Modern Art in Thessaloniki

DeFence was a large scale happening that took place at Megaron Concert Hall of Thessaloniki on 21 of June 2019 on the occasion of the celebration of the world day of music. As a part of the performance the fence of the east bound side of the Concert hall was demolished by a massive amount of approximately 100 performers motly students of the School of Fina Arts of Aristotle Univeristy of Thessaloniki and the National Theater of Thessaloniki

The performance took place around 23:00 in the evening in very low light conditions. Conducted by 4 conductors who were receiving audio information/instructions from the composer wirelessly, in real-time, and accompanied by electronic sounds, the performers used hardware tools to make sounds on the metallic mesh eventually brining it down by cutting it in parts and then moving themselves away. In a deliberate action of breaking any means of human isolation, discrimination and oppresion the piece, despite of its brutal content delivered a message of unification.

Graffiti is an interactive sound installation that draws inspiration from the graffiti technique in visual arts. Just as anyone, regardless of skill, can publicly express themselves through visual graffiti, Graffiti invites visitors to use their smart devices to trigger sound events in real-time, allowing them to act as composers, conductors, and performers simultaneously.

The installation is powered by a special system built with a Raspberry Pi running SuperCollider, which emulates an imaginary symphony orchestra. The system responds to input commands, generating sounds in real-time, and enabling new soundscapes to emerge spontaneously in a playful way. This approach gives participants the chance to experience the excitement of creating music, even without prior musical training.

Multiple people can play together, either at the installation’s location or remotely. This innovative method explores a new way of forming music ensembles, composed of amateur musicians, and offers an accessible yet engaging musical experience.

Les illuminations is a stochastic sound installation created in 2003. The installation was first exhibited at the Music Department of Aristotle University of Thessaloniki as a part of Music Circus Project directed by Danae Stefanou. It consists of a Max/MSP application that generates filtered white noise sounds, while at the same time projecting geometric shapes and displaying the poem “Départ” by Artur Rimbaud.

Départ
Assez vu. La vision s’est rencontrée à tous les airs. Assez eu. Rumeurs des villes, le soir, et au soleil, et toujours. Assez connu. Les arrêts de la vie. – O Rumeurs et Visions ! Départ dans l’affection et le bruit neufs!
Arthur Rimbaud, Illuminations

Enough seen. The vision has been encountered in all skies. Enough had. Sounds of cities, in the evening, and in sunlight, and always. Enough known. The stations of life. — O Sounds and Visions! Departure amid new noise and affection!