Sound Creation with Yuri Suzuki
Yuri Suzuki is all about making noise – throughout a prolific career that has seen his work exhibited across the world, the Japanese-born, London-based artist has crafted art that explores the relationship between sound and people. His growing canon includes OTOTO, a DIY musical invention kit that lets users connect seemingly mundane objects– a banana, a plant, a glass of water – to a soundboard, turning ordinary household items into musical instruments. Touch whatever you’ve hooked up to the machine, and a corresponding note on OTOTO will sound.
His work raises a number of questions, with a central focus on the relation between sound and people. “It’s a very crucial topic,” he told fluoro, “as listening is the closest sense to brain. It should be well considered, and carefully designed.”
A recent body of work and the newest of Suzuki’s explorations in sound is Sharevari – an installation running at Hong Kong’s Art Central. Presented by esteemed jewellery manufacturer and official Art Central partner Swarovski, Sharevari is a custom-made musical instrument that uses an unlikely material as its source of sound – handmade crystals.
“Swarovski has great history of manufacturing crystal, with high-class engineering and optimum design knowledge. They’re also dedicated to creating amazing visual and optics and light effects. With this project, I wanted to propose that Swarovski find another creative use of crystal through sound. What beautiful sound could be created using crystal,” Suzuki said.
The result sees, a crystallophone consisting of 16 brass structures, or ‘notes’, that contain crystals producing differing angelic tones when activated. As well as playing original compositions by Suzuki, Art Central visitors can craft their own songs using the crystallophone, adding an immersive, experiential element to the piece.
Tokyo-born Suzuki – whose love for music was nurtured by his father, a composer – was tasked with turning crystal into art after being one of three winners 2016 Swarovski Designers of the Future Award. Along with the other winners, Suzuki presented his piece at Design Miami/Basel last June, before being whisked off to Austria to visit Swarovski’s historic headquarters. He then hunkered down with a team of Swarovski engineers to create ‘Sharevari’, a piece that – both sonically and physically – challenge the viewer to think differently.
Outside of Art Central, Suzuki continues to stretch his hands in all artistic directions. As he has been doing since 2008, he is running his design studio in London, a venture that has seen him work with the likes of will.i.am and Google. He is also passing on his expertise to a new generation of artists: since 2013, he has been teaching Information Experience Design at London’s Royal College of Art, his alma mater.
Suzuki is currently finalising a major installation which will be presented at Salone del Mobile this April. Titled Sonic Pendulum, the sound installation sees artificial intelligence imagine and materialise an endless soundscape. While continuously generating a calming ambient-sound, baseline atmosphere, the algorithm processes sounds and disturbances around the space, generated by the crowd themselves. The result is in an ever-evolving piece – each moment singular, never to be repeated exactly again – in conversation with its visitors and the way in which they move around the space. The original concept was created in response to the inspiration behind the new AUDI A5 line. “If artificial intelligence could dream, it would dream the car we’ve just made.” With the Sonic Pendulum showcasing Audi’s vision for A.I. alongside the S5 Sportback, Convertible and RS 5 Coupé.
—
