From Surface to Surface (2014) is a 13-minute binaural acousmatic composition, commissioned by Tate Modern, London.
This work forms part of Tate’s Sonic Trails series, an initiative that explores a wider engagement with live arts where composers and sound artists are commissioned to respond to an artwork of their choosing from the gallery’s permanent collection. In this work, I respond to Susumu Koshimizu’s sculpture by the same title on display at Tate Modern, London. The resultant composition mirrors the sculpture with 14 miniatures, each ranging between 30 seconds and a minute in duration, with each miniature responding to a corresponding plank of the sculpture. To date, the sound work has attracted several thousand audience members and continues to be presented as part of the Gallery’s ongoing live art programme. In terms of originality and significance, the work forms part of a burgeoning practice, namely sound and music performance in galleries. Moreover, this output contributes to an emergent area of research and innovation, namely the creative application of spatial music through binaural audio in which headphones are used to present sound in three-dimensional stereo. The work has subsequently been exhibited as a sound installation at The Barbican Centre (London) and Tate Britain.