Algorithmic Soundscapes at Harvestworks is a generative sound piece for 8 speakers and a sub. It is comprised of a growing collection of sound objects which are, in the context of this piece, algorithmic abstractions. They contain the information and behavioral patterns required to produce and diffuse a sound in space. These objects also have the ability to interact which each other, altering each other’s dynamics and position.
The piece is an orchestration of objects over time. Through algorithmic logic it produces an ever-changing composition that can run indefinitely. It is simultaneously a work-in-progress and a finished work. The database of sound objects can always be added to, or subtracted from, in order to create new and different versions of the same piece.
Gil, a Harvestworks Workspace resident, explores sound as a plastic medium, crafting sonic events that can be expanded, compressed, and twisted; filling, narrowing, dividing, coloring, saturating, and emptying the space of listening.
The artist’s ‘sculptural’ approach to sound is predominantly founded on the human’s natural ability to interpret the physical properties of a space, such as height, width, and depth, through the act of hearing.
Due to sound’s intrinsic temporality, Gil’s sonic constructions, unlike traditional sculptural works, are not fixed objects in space. They provide sonic cues, which are decoded by the listener’s mind as virtual, moving volumes in space. Thus, the artist’s work is completed only when the listener actively engages in a personal dialog with the sound and space. The work becomes a context in which the listener is encouraged to contemplate the act of listening as a phenomenon, intentionally disassociated from narrative or representation.
Gil has presented work in venues such as Eyebeam (New York, NY), The Loop Festival (Barcelona, Spain), Diapason Gallery (Brooklyn, NY), Harvestworks (New York, NY), Issue Project Room (Brooklyn, NY), ASPN Gallery (Leipzig, Germany), and the Subtropics Biennial (Miami, FL). He has also presented workshops on sound and technology both nationally and internationally.
Check out Gil’s Website at