awebsite/content/project/2024-04-25-echoing-dimensions/index.md

+++
title = "Echoing Dimensions"
description = "An interactive audiovisual installation."
date = 2024-04-25
authors = ["Aron Petau", "Joel Tenenberg"]

[taxonomies]
tags = [
  "exhibition",
  "fm",
  "installation",
  "kinect",
  "llm",
  "micropython",
  "pointcloud",
  "radio",
  "radio-art",
  "raspberry pi pico",
  "studierendenwerk",
  "touchdesigner",
  "tts",
  "research",
  "university of the arts berlin",
  "ultrasonic sensor",
]

[extra]
banner = "Echoing Dimensions-4.jpg"
featured = true
show_copyright = true
show_shares = true
+++

## Echoing Dimensions

## The Space

[Kunstraum Potsdamer Straße](https://www.stw.berlin/kultur/kunstraum/kunsträume/)

The exhibition takes place in a converted parking garage owned and operated by Studierendenwerk Berlin. This large, open space features a low ceiling, concrete floors, and exposed concrete walls. Several nooks and alcoves throughout the gallery create opportunities for intimate experiences within the raw industrial architecture. The unheated, windowless space retains its utilitarian character, providing a distinctive backdrop for experimental art.

Our collective consists of 12 artists, each contributing unique projects exploring audiovisual installations:

- Özcan Ertek (UdK)
- Jung Hsu (UdK)
- Nerya Shohat Silberberg (UdK)
- Ivana Papic (UdK)
- Aliaksandra Yakubouskaya (UdK)
- Aron Petau (UdK, TU Berlin)
- Joel Rimon Tenenberg (UdK, TU Berlin)
- Bill Hartenstein (UdK)
- Fang Tsai (UdK)
- Marcel Heise (UdK)
- Lukas Esser & Juan Pablo Gaviria Bedoya (UdK)

## The Concept

We exhibited our radio project [aethercomms](/aethercomms/), which emerged from our earlier investigations into cables and radio spaces during our Studio Course.

## Build Log

### 2024-01-25

Today we visited the space for the first time. The underground parking garage immediately struck
us with its raw, industrial character—concrete everywhere, low ceilings, and an unmistakable
cold dampness. Despite the challenging conditions, we could already envision how the space's
unique atmosphere would complement our audiovisual installations.

{{ youtube(id="UaVTcUXDMKA") }}

### 2024-02-01

We signed the contract today, officially securing the space for our collective exhibition. The
excitement is building as we move from concept to reality.

### 2024-02-08

The collective exhibition statement:

> Sound, as a fundamental element of everyday experience, envelopes us in the cacophony of city
> life—car horns, the chatter of pedestrians, the chirping of birds, the rustle of leaves in the
> wind, notifications, alarms, and the constant hum of radio waves, signals, and frequencies.
> These sounds together make up the noise of our lives, often passing by fleeting and unnoticed.
>
> The engagement with sound through active listening holds the potential to transform how we
> experience ourselves and our surroundings. This is the core idea of "Echoing Dimensions": once
> you engage with something, it gives back to you. Whether it's the rhythmic cadence of a
> heartbeat, a flowing symphony of urban activity, or the hoofbeats of a running horse, our minds
> and bodies construct and rebuild scenes and narratives while sensing and processing the sounds
> that surround us and pass through us.
>
> The exhibition "Echoing Dimensions" takes place in Kunstraum Potsdamer Straße gallery's
> underground space and presents artworks by 12 Berlin-based artists who investigate 'intentional
> listening' through sound, video, and installation. Visitors are invited to navigate
> attentiveness through participatory exploration. Each artwork revolves around different themes
> where historical ideas resonate, political-personal narratives are reconceptualized, and
> cultural perspectives are examined. The exhibition's common thread lies in its interest in the
> complexities of auditory perception, inviting viewers to consider the ways in which sound
> shapes our memories, influences our culture, and challenges our understanding of space and
> power dynamics.

### 2024-02-15

### 2024-02-15

We got our TouchDesigner prototype working today. The system successfully collects pointcloud
information through a Kinect Azure, though sorting the device's output has proven quite tricky.
The depth data streams in a format that requires careful parsing, but we're making progress.

### 2024-03-01

Today we conducted our first live tests on the finalized hardware. After much deliberation, we
decided to consolidate everything onto a compact Intel NUC—running TouchDesigner, the LLM, and
audio synthesis all on one machine.

The biggest surprise came from an unexpected quarter: audio synthesis. With no internet
connection available in the exhibition space, we couldn't fall back on the sleek cloud-based TTS
services we'd initially considered. The tiny NUC, already stretched thin, struggled mightily. It
took almost 15 seconds to generate a single paragraph of spoken words, even when using
relatively small synthesizer models. The latency was unbearable for our interactive concept.

The lesson is clear: next time, we need to invest in more processing power from the start.

I find myself wondering why better offline TTS systems aren't more readily available. Isn't text-
to-speech a fundamental accessibility feature? We eventually settled on Coqui TTS, which worked
adequately but has since gone out of business entirely. The fragility of these tools is
concerning.

### 2024-04-05

Exciting news today: we've been accepted as part of
[Sellerie Weekend](https://www.sellerie-weekend.de)!

![Sellerie Weekend Poster](sellerie_weekend.png)

Sellerie Weekend is a collective of gallery spaces and artist-run initiatives that offers a
fresher, more counter-cultural alternative to the established Gallery Weekend Berlin. Being
included in this program significantly boosted our online visibility and helped us draw a full
house for the opening night. The underground art scene came out in force.

### A Look Inside

{{ youtube(id="qVhhv5Vbh8I", class="portrait") }}

{{ youtube(id="oMYx8Sjk6Zs", class="portrait") }}

### The Final Audiovisual Setup

{% gallery() %}
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  {
    "file": "Echoing Dimensions-4.jpg",
    "alt": "The FM Transmitter",
    "title": "The FM Transmitter"
  },
  {
    "file": "Echoing Dimensions-1.jpg",
    "alt": "Video Output with TouchDesigner",
    "title": "Video Output with TouchDesigner"
  },
  {
    "file": "Echoing Dimensions-2.jpg",
    "alt": "One of the Radio Stations",
    "title": "One of the Radio Stations"
  },
  {
    "file": "Echoing Dimensions-7.jpg",
    "alt": "The Diagram",
    "title": "The Diagram"
  },
  {
    "file": "Echoing Dimensions-11.jpg",
    "alt": "Exhibition view",
    "title": "Exhibition view"
  },
  {
    "file": "Echoing Dimensions-13.jpg",
    "alt": "The Network Spy",
    "title": "The Network Spy"
  },
  {
    "file": "Echoing Dimensions-18.jpg",
    "alt": "Installation detail",
    "title": "Installation detail"
  },
  {
    "file": "Echoing Dimensions-42.jpg",
    "alt": "Visitor interaction",
    "title": "Visitor interaction"
  },
  {
    "file": "IMG_1709.jpeg",
    "alt": "The Exhibition Setup",
    "title": "The Exhibition Setup"
  }
]
{% end %}