Unfoldings: Multiple Explorations of Sound and Space

This paper describes a long term, collaborative project Sound Spaces. Within this project we creatively investigated various environments and built a collection of artworks in response to material gathered through a number of practical field visits. Our responses were presented in numerous, idiosyncratic ways and took shape through a number of concerted making activities. The work was conducted both in and with the public, allowing participants to inform the creative decisions made throughout the project as well as experiencing the building of the artworks. Within this essay we report on our process, presentation and offer alternative methods for collecting material and presenting representations of space using Ambisonic and other technologies. We describe the many responses made during our time and related these to research concerns relevant to the NIME community. We conclude with our findings and, through the production of an annotated portfolio, offer our main emerging themes as points of discussion.