Access/Unseen Sound

Andy Slater

Unseen Sound, 2023

Sound and text

In Unseen Sound, Andy Slater uses spatial audio as a wayfinding tool to remap and reorient lived experiences of real and virtual space. Created with virtual gallery New Art City’s space-building engine, this virtual experience invites players to navigate a nonvisual space entirely by sound. As players use a joystick to wander and explore, they encounter and trigger sonic events that seem to emanate from unknown worlds. Referencing the phenomena of Crypto Acoustic Auditory Non-Hallucinations, or phantom sounds heard by individuals that defy scientific explanation, Unseen Sound uses audio as material for science fiction worldbuilding. These sounds activate real-time sonic descriptive texts that appear on a large monitor in the installation. Just as the sounds encountered in the virtual world are enigmatic, these sonic descriptions guide visitors through another uncharted form of access that at times clarify, and at other moments confuse. Embodying blind modalities of being, Slater’s work reimagines drifting as aural adventure through a speculative sonic environment.  

There are two ways to experience Unseen Sound. One is through the ears and one is through the eyes. A table in the room hosts a gaming joystick, a headphone amplifier, and a pair of headphones. This is how you can interact with the piece sonically. Grab the joystick, put on the headphones, and get to it. There is nothing to look at. This is a fictional audio-only experience. Detailed instructions and a physical description of the room are available at the webpage designated to Unseen Sound. It is accessible by QR code on the wall text and on the table top.

Some of the Unseen Sounds might be loud, dissonant, noisy, and dramatic. Please make use of the volume control on the headphone amp.

If you are Deaf, hard of hearing or prefer not to put on the headphones, you can experience the piece through captions and sound descriptions on the big wall-mounted monitor. You may sit on the bench. Interacting with the sounds of the virtual world will activate the captions onscreen. This text describes the sounds and scenes. They vary in length and verbosity, metaphor and detail and can appear and disappear quickly or stay static for a longer period of time. When no one is engaged with the virtual world, the screen will be blank.

Notice: Some of the sounds in Unseen Sound are loud and noisy and might pop up all of a sudden.

Ok, I need to explain this thing first. There are instructions for Unseen Sound, sorry. If you’re hearing then there’s nothing to look at. If you’re deaf or don’t want to listen to this thing then there is something for you to look at. In this room is a circular table, flush with the wall opposite of the entry way. It’s maybe 15 feet away. There is a chair, too.  The table is about 31 inches tall. On it is a joystick controller, a pair of headphones, and a headphone amp. The amplifier is about 3 inches wide and 5 inches long. The front has a big volume knob. Turn it to the right and it gets louder. Don’t forget that it’s there.The headphones might have a control button on them but it does nothing. The joystick has 2 buttons on its base. The one on the left brings you back to the start and the  one on the right transports you directly to the next destination. There is no monitor for you while you’re in Unseen Sound.

On the full wall, adjacent from the table is a 70 inch monitor. It is mounted low so don’t bump into it. Across from the monitor is  a bench suitable for sitting. What’s on the monitor, you ask? Why, it’s the captions describing what’s going on between the ears of the person with the joystick. In real time the captions appear on screen, stacking on top of each other when sonic events are encountered. If no one is engaging with Unseen Sound there will be nothing to read, sorry. Here is how I think you should navigate my virtual world.There is a brief introduction statement when you get in. You’ll hear sounds and you should go to them. There are sonic beacons that highlight a path from one spot to the next. You can follow them, it’s totally safe. Personal freedom is important in Unseen Sound so you can wander around in any fashion you’d like for as long as you like.

Please do everyone a favor and don’t let the headphones’ cable lay on the floor. Folks in wheelchairs might get all tangled up and that will ruin it for all of us.