An interactive musical sound and light installation built from empty nitrous cylinders.
Inside a church-like hexagonal structure, two participants sit at facing keyboards. One triggers mallets that strike tuned steel chimes; the other plays a MIDI-controlled acoustic string instrument. Together they create an immersive soundscape accompanied by warm lights that fade with each note. Part sound bath, part meditation—the installation offers a contemplative space where visitors can slow down and reconnect.
The two keyboards facing each other invite strangers and friends to share an intimate, nonverbal creative connection in the midst of a larger party.
CW: Addiction, Death.
This piece was originally built as a way to process the PTSD from helping with a friends nitrous oxide addiction. Since finishing and presenting the installation at a number of events the friend passed away and it's become something closer to a memorial for them. Below is the artist's statement for the piece when I first exhibited it.
I searched room to room through their house, more and more convinced they had killed themselves. I found them passed out surrounded by these empty nitrous cylinders.
I drove the cylinders to every recycling place I could find but nowhere takes them. They sat in my garage for months. Cursed fucking objects.
I revisited the memories in therapy, tried to teach my body that my friend was actually alive while I was looking for them. Weave that knowledge back into the story so that remembering it didn’t come with a jolt of adrenaline.
I worked on this project to try and do something similar with the empty cylinders. I wanted to break them apart and build them into something new. Lift the curse a little.
I hope you find some peace in here.
This was largely a solo project, with friends kindly assisting along the way in prototyping the UX and installing at events. I built the hexagonal wooden structure, designed and fabricated the custom MIDI electronic mallets, and created the lighting system—all to craft an intimate space that balances technical interactivity with emotional resonance.
