Silva Screen

TESSELLATION is the score by NAINITA DESAI for artist BRUCE MUNRO’S art installation ‘FOSO’ [Fiber Optic Symphonic Orchestra]. It is an abstract large scale outdoor installation of an entirely light-responsive orchestra.

The artist describes the experience in more detail -

“In this installation, eighty, two meter high, five-meter diameter light installations, each being a “musician,” will form the physical plan of an orchestra. Each musician is represented by the iconic Hills Hoist rotary washing line, an everyday Australian object that is also a beautiful structural support to my mind. Cylindrical arrays of fibre optic cables will encircle each Hills Hoist, making it a column of light. A control system will scroll through a rainbow of colours synchronised with a symphonic soundtrack. As the fibre optic columns change hues, viewers will experience sound translated into colour.”

This creates the immersive experience of an orchestra playing amid the lights. Different frequencies and pitches of sound are assigned different colours. FOSO’s light-responsive orchestra is designed to play ‘in time’ to the music, which means as you walk through the display, you can hear the individual instrument sections of the orchestra, whether it be the individual brass, string and woodwind elements.

The composer elaborates on the musical experience –

“Using the symphonic orchestra including organic and electronic musical sounds, I wanted to take the listener on an exhilarating, emotional journey through nine musical pieces. While composing, in my mind’s eye I would think of the visual layout; how all the colours and rhythms would interweave with one another. I would think of the patterns and shapes the installation would create with the emotional connection; from dense and rich, vibrant and colourful, to gentle and calming. The ebb and flow of the work would take you on a rollercoaster of building tension to a soft release of emotion.”

Approaching the nature of the music and how it would work with the installation provided an interesting challenge for the composer.

“Having spent my career to date serving cinematic storytelling for film, TV and video games, writing this score gave me the opportunity to create my own narrative.

Bruce’s only requirement was that I should make full use of the symphonic orchestra, and that the piece should start and end with the orchestra tuning up. It was recorded in Vienna Synchron Stage and hand-picked soloists.

Tessellation is my ‘breaking-out-of-my-shell’ work; a voyage of musical self discovery. Having studied mathematics at degree level, I have always been intrigued by the relationship between music, mathematics and patterns in nature.”