Sound Field I

AT GARFIELD PARK

ROB FUNKHOUSER RECONTEXTUALIZES A BELOVED PARK FOR VISITORS.

Words by Allison Troutner

Ecomusicology

04

West of Bean Creek in Garfield Park, Rob Funkhouser’s virtual art installation is invisible to the eye, but the geofenced soundwalk Sound Field I transforms an ordinary park into a fantastic soundscape for visitors who wish to engage. Funkhouser says Sound Field I is written for visitors hanging out in the park, and participating is entirely optional.

Creating unintrusive art installations for parkgoers is a crucial concept of his work. “I try to be conscientious of how I present things, specifically so that I can make the work that I want, while also being able to sleep at night, knowing that I didn’t foist it on a community that doesn’t want or need it.”

Funkhouser is a composer, performer, instrument builder and long-term resident of Big Car Collaborative’s Artist and Public Life Residency Program (APLR). Before APLR, he shared a residency at Cat Head Press with composer Landon Caldwell. This led to a longterm partnership based on experimental ideas of how sound art installations keep communities at the center.

In the fall of 2021, the pair received funding from the #IndyKeepsCreating Cultural Connection Grant, administered by Big Car Collaborative. The grant was the spark the two needed to make their idea a reality. The following December, Funkhouser and Caldwell presented Frozen Frequencies, a geofenced virtual art installation composed of two unique soundwalks in Garfield Park, including Funkhouser’s Sound Field I.

“My hope is that somebody could have a special, magical experience in this part of the park just by walking around and exploring,” says Funkhouser. “I like that idea of surprise and people finding significance in things that aren’t really meant to be significant.” One of his favorite sections of the installation happens along an unremarkable stretch of sidewalk leading to the Pagoda. There Funkhouser added several “zones”of composition. HOW TO ACCESS SOUNDWALKS

1. Download the echoes.xzy app and search based on location in Indianapolis.

2. Scan the attached QR code and follow the prompts.

Using the GPS-driven Echoes.xyz app, a listener’s location triggers the zones, and the soundscape erupts into layers of sound. “I think there’s something fun about it, adding this layer of beauty or magic on top of something that people do every day,” he says. Funkhouser’s compositions are recorded at home using relatively common instruments, like a thumb piano, synthesizer and a recording of the waves of Lake Michigan. “For me, it was an attempt to make something ordinary a little bit more extraordinary,” he says.

When designing virtual art installations in the community, Funkhouser embraces a gardener’s mentality, patiently tilling the soil, preparing for growth over time. “When you think about long, slow, repeatable, responsible work, you end up with results that add to the people around you and your neighborhood, in a more meaningful way,” he says. “It’s something that will have a lasting impact beyond what I could ever hope to do with one concert.”

How does the Garfield Park community feel about the art installation? “I would assume right now it would not be that important at all, to a certain extent, because I have a lot of inroads to make in the neighborhood,” he explains. His goal is not immediate value but adding to the larger context within the Garfield Park community. In this regard, he says, “I’m still at the very beginning of what I hope is a long journey.” ■

Ecomusicology

05