Cloud Sound

RESEARCH BACKGROUND: Cottrell was one of five artists invited to participate in 'Cloudy Sensoria' a major show that explored the various histories of Bundoora Homestead. The artists were asked to engage audiences in new ways of 'seeing', often not with the eyes, that responded to the homestead and its history. 'Cloud Sound' mapped the changing exterior light and weather conditions into the gallery interior, conflating ideas of atmosphere as weather and atmosphere as interior ambience. These interests were influenced by an analysis of James Turrell's 'skyspace' projects. RESEARCH CONTRIBUTION: 'Cloud Sound' comprised a camera obscura room that projected an image of the sky immediately outside the gallery into the darkened interior, and a generative sound piece which manipulated dozens of small audio samples to create an "aural cloud" that responded to the changing atmospheric conditions beyond the gallery space. This innovative research project used specifically developed software programming and electronics to literally 'give voice' to the light, wind and air on the site and further developed the researcher's practice which explores issues of spatial perception and representation. RESEARCH SIGNIFICANCE: Bundoora Homestead is the public art gallery for the City of Darebin, co-funded by local government, Arts Victoria, the Victorian State Government. Cloudy Sensoria was a partnership between the venue and the School of Architecture and Design, RMIT. The exhibiton was previewed in local newspapers, including The Northcote and Preston Leaders (24 October 2012) and online.