Oslo Airport

The existing sound sculptures scattered throughout the Oslo airport demand a radical invasion. Having experienced these sculptures for the past three years during periods of transit, the total dullness of their usage and ongoing evolution sets the sonic heart careening into desiring leaps for deeper imaginative manifestations. Spraying out as “sound showers”, the sculptures reproduce an ongoing banality of birdsongs, water sounds, and whispering voices, with the intention of relaxing and stimulating the weary traveller, creating pools of private soundscapes that cascade down in a replay of clichéd renderings that in turn remain static for future listenings. From this perspective it becomes imperative to introduce a series of alternatives, to supplement the already existing counter-promise of the work itself, whereby the rather overlooked and underused sculptures can truly activate the listener and the poetical space of the airport.

Intervention notes:
1. hack playback system and channel in NASA ionosphere recordings, creating dialogue between the airport and the material substance of the atmosphere
2. introduce a series of inputs into the sculpture for visitors to access and activate (kids would love it!), turning the sculptures into private musical machines
3. link up sculptures so as to extend the notion of soundscape toward a broader range, where each sculpture would playback live feeds from around the airport (restricted zones, such as the baggage retrieval areas, etc.), or from other airports around the globe
4. sell tickets to the sculptures and promote as an amusement ride (provide a chair)
5. turn into ambient advertisements promoting non-visual products
6. further inputs: connect to a series of mobile phone numbers and allow callers to upload sounds for immediate playback (leave messages for friends, travellers, secret agents, etc); supplement with a web-site for global reach
7. renovate sculptures so as to make them wireless and mobile, enabling visitors to move the sculptures around the airport
8. paint sculptures pink
9. playback soundtracks from films or TV sitcoms with revised components: new characters, voices, sound sources, altered musical soundtracks
10. turn into erotic jukeboxes where you can select the voice of your deepest desire (develop series of parameters)