Megaphones
Twenty custom robotically printed megaphones focus acoustic energy into hyper-directional streams, giving agency to each singer in directing the imprint of their voices in different manners. Each megaphone shapes sound in a unique way—variably in line or perpendicular to the performer, with narrow or wide washed bands of sound, some split into multiple directions, while others focus on a point. These family of megaphones are revealed through a series of tableaux. Relative to the human body some of the megaphones mask while others disguise. The megaphones were designed for composer Ashley Fure’s new piece ‘Filament’ as a way to democratize the New York Philharmonic. Breaking with the proscenium tradition of the symphony, where action is frontal and ticket prices increase toward the stage, the megaphones seek to distribute the visceral power, spreading access throughout the space.