
Pneumatic Sound Field consist of a plane of pneumatic valves that is used to produce wind, pressure and sound. The result is a breathing sound environment above the heads of the audience. Acoustical sound consists of temporary pressure changes travelling through the atmosphere of the air around us. While loudspeakers most often use moving membranes in order to produce these pressure changes - that we perceive as sound - in Pneumatic Sound Field compressed air is being used to produce acoustical sound. The compressed air is released through very fast controllable pneumatic valves in the 'open' air. Pneumatic Sound Field consists of a grid of 42 independently controllable valves covering a plane of about 10 by 20 meters. Sound and wind traverse this field with differing speeds, directions, and intensities. The patterns are created in a generative way and are interpretations of spatial movements of actual wind. The audience is challenged to determine their own position within this environment.
Even though each valve produces its own sound the audience will perceive the sound as a fluid pattern very much comparable to our perception of film where a sequence of film frames is being perceived as a fluid movement happening in time instead of individual frames.
Pneumatic Sound Field uses spatial time delays of impulses over the 42 valves. By using different speeds, delays and repetitions a acoustic environment is created with a strong poetic power triggering and activating our complete bodily sensory apparatus.
Edwin van der Heide (1970, The Netherlands) is an autonomous artist working in the field of sound, space and interaction. His current work is hard to define in the traditional terms of music, sound art or media art because he is often working on the edge and the characteristics of the used medium. In this sense the medium does not just mediate but is being explored and redefined. Although qualities of musical language are being used in the development of the work, it does not mean that the presentation form of the work is necessarily related to the concert form known in music. Selected concerts / performances and exhibitions include: - STEIM, Amsterdam, V2 DEAF Festival, ICC, Tokyo, MOMA, San Francisco, ICC (NTT- inter communication center), Tokyo,
Museum Booijmans van Beuningen, Rotterdam, -2nd Beijing International New Media Arts Festival, Beijing, among others.