Artist Statement

Computer, Mixer, Custom Pure Data Program, Microphone, Public Announcement System (2013)

Subtle Territory manifests imperceptible sounds of the immediate surroundings. This presentation is an audio documentation of the reactive installation environment. The experience introduces listeners to an expanded field of sound from frequencies and distances at the threshold and beyond the limits of human hearing. The architecture of surrounding buildings act as acoustic surfaces by transmitting urban and environmental tremors to a sensitive microphone. Using a custom Pure Data program, infrasonic and low frequency sounds are isolated from the live input and extended across the audible frequency range to reveal a liminal sonic field. Environmental resonances are heard as modulating drones and pulses. These sounds are joined by incidental harmonic melodies that emerge from the activity of pedestrian and local traffic. People’s expectations of a familiar audio-space are disrupted when sound data is transformed into a soundscape composed by contributions from the public and the city itself.

• Donna Legault is an experimental artist from Ottawa, Canada. Her transdisciplinary  practice includes sound, electronic installation, sculpture, and performance. The intersection of these practices focus on the resonance of sound as a dynamic extension of everyday actions. She holds degrees in Art History from Carleton University, and in Visual Arts from the University of Ottawa. She is currently a part-time professor of Electronic Art at The University of Ottawa. Donna’s installations have been exhibited widely in solo and group exhibitions, festivals and conferences across Canada and abroad.

Text with images (PDF)  p. 112-113