Client: Canal Convergence / Scottsdale Public Art

Overview

‘Say What You Will’ is a large scale public interactive artwork composed of six sculptural sails and six kiosks. The public is invited to interact with the artwork by speaking into any of the glowing kiosks. It could be a story, a phrase, a love note, or a frustration. The artwork takes the audio submission and transforms it into an abstract visual expression and light, which is then projected onto one of six sails spanning the width of the Arizona Canal. One’s voice is transformed in its visual expression by analyzing both the sentiment of the submission and the spectral qualities. Each submission reveals a unique transformation as the artwork is able to use artificial intelligence to recognize the sentiment of what is said, which is then given a positive or negative score. For example, this could be a ‘positive’ expression of love, joy, happiness or a ‘negative’ expression of frustration, anger, or fear. The spectral analysis of each expression allows the artwork to recognize volume, pace, and density of sound, which influence the individual visual expression. Each sail has a one-to-one relationship with an adjacent interactive kiosk, and all six sails collectively come together to construct the greater conversation and complexion of the public artwork.

Goals

MASARY was commissioned by Scottsdale Public Art / Canal Convergence to create a large scale artwork informed by the themes embedded within the event: art and technology.

Using art and technology as foundation to stem from, the conceptual goals of this artwork were to engage the public in allowing them to recognize how powerful their voices are and the extended frequency they hold, while also presenting the opportunity for the public to listen to one another no matter what is expressed. This direct offering of creative agency attempts to generate empathy and empowerment of expression and public communication.

Process

The collaboration of this installation was extensive, lasting almost two years. The public art installation included practitioners and practices of architecture, sculpture, structural engineering, real-time animation, interactive sensors, research, real-time audio analysis, sound composition, large scale AV integration, and more.

Additional Information

Each submission reveals a unique transformation as the artwork is able to use artificial intelligence to recognize the sentiment of what is said, which is then given a positive or negative score. For example, this could be a ‘positive’ expression of love, joy, happiness or a ‘negative’ expression of frustration, anger, or fear. The spectral analysis of each expression allows the artwork to recognize volume, pace, and density of sound, which influence the individual visual expression. Over the course of the 10 day event, the installation had over 22,000 unique interactions.