Cymatic Crucible

Research Background: The combination of design, sculpture and sound (Keylin 2015; Hoadley 2011) produces alternative ways to generative music and musical performance (LaBelle 2015). Cymatic Crucible connected two sculptures that explore the interface of music and materiality. “The sonic crucible” explores the relationship between rotating singing bowls and water borne standing waves (Lacey and Gifford 2023). The “cymatic spiral” explores relationships between sonic matter and geometry (Henschke 2020). All three authors performed live instruments (bass guitar/contrabass clarinet/synthesizers) in response to the sculptural objects. Research Significance: ANAT_Spectra is a triennial event (via EOI with a 32 percent success rate) showcasing extraordinary interdisciplinary art practice and creative research produced through collaborations between Australian artists, scientists and technologists. Total exhibition attendance was 2,041 people with 158 people in attendance. The sonic crucible used standing waves in cultural contexts in performances at ACMA and NIME. Cymatics spiral was developed by Henschke as part of his Synapse CSIRO residency to materialize sonic matter. This is first time the sonic crucible and the cymatic spiral have been performed together. Research Contribution: The project shows the relevance of design applications in reimagining musical processes. Using electronics, hydrophones, water, light and instruments these two installations generated an overlapping “caustic plane” projected onto a large screen that foregrounds the comparative geometry of standing waves and cymatic wave patterns. The material of water acts as a musical medium transmitting sonic energy via speaker arrays to create a performative environment that combines human and non-human actors (Latour 1997), which manifests new materialist (Bennett 2010) theory into tangible experience.