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AlakkoNää abstraktia?

Interactive Sound Art Exhibition × Oulu Art Museum Collaboration
2024–2025 · TASKU Exhibition Space, Oulu

AlakkoNää – Interactive Sound Art Installation at Oulu Art Museum

📍 Concept & Context

As part of a cross-institutional collaboration between Oulu University of Applied Sciences (OAMK) Music Technology and the Oulu Art Museum, this exhibition explored how sound can be physically presented and experienced within visual art spaces.

Born from fall 2024's OAMK SHOWROOM program — which included a spatial music workshop with nearly 50 Nordic/Baltic music academy students — the project evolved into two site-responsive works designed to challenge the visual dominance of traditional gallery formats. Planning began in December 2024, with technical development and installation completed in the weeks leading up to the opening.

🎛️ The Works

Koskettava abstraktio (Touchable Abstraction)

A wall-mounted touch interface featuring 16 conductive metal plates. By holding onto a grounded railing and pressing against individual plates, viewers trigger abstract audio clips or activate digital signal processing effects.

Designed to be played instrumentally, the piece also invites collective interaction: when two participants hold hands, their bodies complete the low-voltage circuit, enabling shared sound generation. The system is built around safe, teacher-grade touch controllers originally developed for Playtronica workshops.

Kaiku tulevaisuudesta (Echo from the Future)

A deep-listening headphone experience that abstracts the museum's own acoustic environment. A hidden microphone continuously captures room tone and ambient sounds, which are routed through two networked Raspberry Pi computers running Pure Data.

Algorithmic random delays blur spatial and temporal cues, encouraging listeners to approach sound without preconceived expectations. The microphone's location remains undisclosed, turning discovery into part of the listening process.

📸 Installation Documentation

AlakkoNää – Touchable Abstraction Detail AlakkoNää – Kaiku tulevaisuudesta Setup

🎬 Documentation

🔧 Technical & Pedagogical Framework

Both pieces run autonomously on Linux-based Raspberry Pi devices using Pure Data (Pd) for real-time audio processing. Pd was selected over commercial alternatives for its stability, open architecture, and ability to run sound algorithms as background processes without graphical interference.

The project served as the capstone of OAMK's third-year Sound Programming course, bridging technical production skills with artistic sonification and pedagogical exploration. Guided by lecturer Jussi Tuohino and students Sebastian Kuhz, Vilho Mällinen, Pyry Pyörret, and Janette Tuomaala, the team rooted their approach in Pauline Oliveros' deep listening methodology, tactile controller experimentation, and spatial audio design.

The works were intentionally minimalist visually to shift focus toward sonic interaction and shared presence.

🤝 Credits & Notes

Information retrieved from: ouluntaidemuseo.fi/blogi ↗