[microsound] Documenting sound installations

[Trond Lossius <lossius@xxxxxx>]

For some years now I've been doing a series of sound installations in  
collaboration with other artists, mainly visual artists. For a large  
part the installations have been presented in various galleries. I've  
always found it difficult to document the installations. Visually it  
generally works well to use video, as I've often been collaborating  
with artists using video as a medium. But I find the audio part to be  
really difficult. I've generally been using multi-speaker setups of  
various kinds to position the audience inside the sound. Reducing the  
sound image to stereo is already a major reduction of the impression  
you'll have of the sound as compared to being at the site. In  
addition, the audio recorded at the gallery space while the  
installation is running use to be completely useless, containing a  
lot of disturbances and noise. My sound installations generally work  
with low volumes, as I often like working with sound that is barely  
perceptible. If I instead do a stereo mixdown of the sound, the sound  
on the documentation of course is better, but I'm also loosing any  
sensation of the sound being related to or *in* the room. Thus when  
watching the documentation, it is a much more detached experience  
than if I'm using a recording from the space.

So I'm wondering: Are there anyone else working on sound  
installations that have found better ways to approach this?

Thanks,
Trond

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