Music for ...

The trilogy of sound installations “Music for Insects,” “Music for Staircases,” and “Music for What” collectively explores the ephemeral and dynamic relationship between environment, technology, and human perception. Each piece transforms ordinary spaces and objects into immersive architectures of time.

Music for insects

“Music for Insects” is the first part of a sound trilogy installation that distinguishes itself through the consistent use of ephemeral corporeality. Set in the Pannonian landscape of southeastern Burgenland, the project creates a mixed reality experience that poetically communicates with the temporal corporeality of the wind. A weather vane-like “rooster” installed collects wind data and also visually represents this “data space.”

The large scale of the installation and its connection to a specific landscape serve as a deliberate reconnection of digital processes to real space. In this context, “Music for Insects” embodies a form of architecture that moves beyond visual or static conditions of our habitat. Instead, it is understood as an immersive architecture of time, focusing on the transient and dynamic aspects of nature. The project challenges traditional notions of space and structure by emphasizing temporal experiences, offering a poetic exploration of how digital art can harmoniously integrate with the natural world.

Music for staircases

“Music for Staircases” transforms the staircases of the psychiatric pavilion Steinhof in Vienna into an immersive sonic experience. This space, imbued with emotionally charged moments felt deeply by visitors, hospital staff, and patients alike, becomes a place of temporal observation. By reimagining the staircase — a corridor of countless human stories - the project creates a unique “sonic aesthetic” without the use of external sound sources or pre-recorded samples.

The installation employs compressors and limiters to generate outputs driven solely by microphone inputs, forming feedback loops modulated by dynamically controlled filters. Visitors become integral parameters within this closed-circuit system; their presence and movements influence the evolving soundscape. A microphone positioned in the central aisle, coupled with two loudspeakers and two infrasound sensors, crafts feedback filters that adjust based on the localization of individuals within the space. Day-dependent ambient noises and the varying number of people traversing the stairwell ensure that each passage produces a singular auditory experience. “Music for Staircases” thus transforms the architecture into an immersive temporal construct, blurring the boundaries between space, sound, and human interaction.

Music for what

“Music for What” is the third and final part of the audio triptych series. This installation redefines experiments as machines—not as stable mechanisms transferring concentrated force through movable parts, nor as closed boxes that transform inputs into outputs. Instead, experiments are presented as temporally limited installations that spatially circulate around the observer and the very process being observed.

In this project, a GPS receiver is mounted on a one-meter diameter propeller, experiencing acceleration that culminates in a constant speed of 418 m/s (approximately 1,500 km/h). Despite this intense motion, the GPS-receiver registers only slight movements of up to 8 km/h and minimal position changes. The rotating apparatus is sonified through a contact microphone, capturing the mechanical sounds and translating them into an audible experience. During live performances, the machine—due to its increasing weight and the stresses of rotation—eventually bursts into flames, marking the dramatic conclusion of the performance. This physical culmination emphasizes the ephemeral nature of the experiment and the instability inherent in pushing mechanical systems to their limits.

GPS technology grids the world into a time-critical and temporal network, rendering corporeality unstable and distorting our understanding of real-world movements. “Music for What” culminates the series by delving into the instability of perceived reality through technological mediation. It continues Savičić’s exploration of immersive architectures of time, transforming ordinary objects into conduits for examining the ephemeral and dynamic nature of our interaction with technology and the environment.

Credits

All three projects were developed together with Klaus Filip and Nicolaj Kirisits as part of their workshops and exhibitions during 2005–2006.