Museum installation gives voice to natural cycles, events

Submitted by Kerynn Fisher
Phone: (907) 474-6941
03/17/06

The sun and the moon sing, the land rumbles and the aurora chime in a new gallery at the University of Alaska Museum of the North. The gallery, The Place Where You Go to Listen, opens March 21. It will allow visitors to experience one artist’s visual and musical interpretation of Earth’s natural cycles and events.

Created by longtime Fairbanks artist John Luther Adams, The Place Where You Go to Listen draws on the cycles of daylight and darkness, the phases of the moon, seismic activity and the aurora. Driven by real-time data streams developed with researchers from UAF’s Geophysical Institute, the sound and light experience has no beginning, middle or end and changes constantly to reflect current conditions.

"This is a place for hearing the unheard vibrations of the world around us," says Adams. "I think anyone with an innate sense of curiosity about the world we live in will get something out of the experience."

Museum director Aldona Jonaitis first approached Adams in 1998 with the idea of creating a sound environment in the expanded museum, even before an architect had been selected for the project. Jonaitis envisioned a quiet, contemplative space for visitors that would be an expression of Alaska in audible form, much like the architecture and exhibits in the new wing would be visual expressions of Alaska’s artistic influence.

"I wanted something that would be unique to Alaska, to this location overlooking the Tanana Valley and the Alaska Range. The Place is everything I hoped it would be and more. It is very much a reflection of the dynamic natural forces at work in Alaska," said Jonaitis. "From an artistic perspective, it’s also a striking contrast to the more traditional oil paintings we have on display in our Alaska Classics gallery. Together, they help illustrate the very broad spectrum of artistic expression in Alaska. I’m certain The Place Where You Go to Listen will surprise, delight and intrigue our visitors."

All the sounds in The Place are synthesized, so visitors will not hear any familiar musical instruments or sounds of nature. However, Adams notes that every sound the visitor hears is directly connected to the natural world in the present moment.

The cycles of daylight and darkness serve as the primary voices for The Place Where You Go to Listen. Adams calls the daylight "a choir of bright voices," characterized by yellow, orange and red lighting in the installation. The night, a choir of "darker" voices, is colored in violet, blue and cyan. At any given moment, which sound dominates depends on whether the sun is above or below the horizon; they are most balanced at sunrise and sunset and on the vernal and autumnal equinoxes. The specific tones are determined by where the sun lies on a 360-degree plane relative to the museum’s location, how far above or below the horizon the sun is and the current sky conditions in Fairbanks.

The moon also has a voice in The Place Where You Go to Listen. Like the voices of daylight and darkness, the moon’s voice is driven by the moon’s position relative to the museum’s location, but is also influenced by the phase of the moon. The moon’s voice is strongest during a full moon.

Live data feeds from five seismic stations managed by the Alaska Earthquake Information Center, ranging from the central Brooks Range to the south slope of the Alaska Range, drive the "earth drums" in The Place. Seismic events measuring approximately 1.5 or stronger on the Richter scale will be audible in The Place, though many of them will be imperceptible to visitors standing immediately outside The Place. The sounds of an earthquake in the Alaska Range may begin to rumble the room; moments later, shockwaves measured in Fairbanks and then the Brooks Range will begin to sound.

Electromagnetic activity, visible as the aurora borealis, is reflected in The Place as "sky bells." Like the "earth drums," the "sky bells" are driven by live data streams from five stations managed by UAF’s Geophysical Institute and ranging from the Arctic coast at Kaktovik to the south slope of the Alaska Range at Gakona. Whenever electromagnetic activity is measured at any of the stations, whether or not the aurora is visible, it resonates in The Place. This gives visitors a chance to experience the aurora on cloudy winter days or in summer, when long daylight hours make the aurora invisible.

All these natural forces come together to create a work of art that is constantly changing, though the changes may be so gradual as to be almost imperceptible. It will literally never sound the exactly same.

"Visitors who are in Fairbanks for on their trip-of-a-lifetime vacation will get to experience The Place at one moment in time," says Adams. "But I hope that Fairbanks residents and those who make frequent visits to Interior Alaska will come to experience The Place time and time again so they can hear how it changes from day to night and season to season."

Visitors can experience The Place Where You Go to Listen whenever the museum is open. Winter/spring hours, which continue through May 14, are 9 a.m. to 5 a.m. weekdays and noon to 5 p.m. weekends. Summer hours are 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. daily. Visitor information is available at (907) 474-7505 or online at www.uaf.edu/museum.

Contact: University of Alaska Musuem of the North Communications Coordinator Kerynn Fisher at (907) 474-6941 or (907) 378-2559 or via email at k.fisher@uaf.edu.