Cultural Corner

AWAKENING THE SENSES

Sonic Dreamscape at SoundScape Park

By Brandi Reddick

What happens when the unique elements of a serene oasis and tropical metropolis are beautifully blended and brought to life? On Friday, October 26, the City of Miami Beach Art in Public Places Program, along with the New World Symphony, will open a permanent, site-specific audio and visual project by American composer and media artist Bill Fontana – Sonic Dreamscape.

Using sound as a sculptural medium, the audio work from the project was recorded in and around Miami Beach and captures the sounds of ocean waves, mocking birds and even the underground gurgling of water pushing through the City’s pump stations.

”Although trained as a composer, this is my first audio and video public commission created in collaboration with a music institution,” noted Fontana. “All of my other commissions have been associated with a visual arts museum, biennale, or public space. It has been a pleasure and honor to work with the New World Symphony and create an audio piece for the best outdoor sound system in the United States.”

Fontana spent the last two years researching the project and has developed several versions of the artwork, allowing visitors at SoundScape Park a different experience with each visit. The work, which utilizes the 72 channel speaker system and projection wall in SoundScape Park, begins daily in the morning hours with an immersive audio experience and culminates with a video projection in the evening hours.

SoundScape Park is home to Fontana’s third major public art commission in the United States, followed by Soaring Echoes for the Pritzker Pavilion in Chicago’s Millennium Park and Acoustical Visions for the Golden Gate Bridge’s 75th Anniversary in San Francisco.

Internationally, Fontana has created works for the National Museum of Contemporary Art in Rome (MAXXI), both Tate Modern and Tate Britain in London, the Museum Ludwig in Cologne, the Post Museum in Frankfurt, the Art History and Natural History Museums in Vienna, and the 48th Venice Biennale, along with a major commission for the 16th International Architecture Biennale in Venice.

Immerse yourself in Fontana’s sensory world. Take a walk through SoundScape Park as the magic of Miami Beach comes alive this Fall.