The resulting drone is just a part of the scope of the project. For Boston-based artist Craig Colorusso, the idea is more about the experience than the aural result (though, granted, that and pictures is what we’re limited to here). His installation, Sun Boxes takes a collection solar-powered speakers, each of which plays a loop of part of a Bb chord, and puts them in natural settings.

Seems simple enough, but the individual loops run at different lengths, and since the nature sounds of wherever they’re placed inevitably factor into the overall experience of the work, as does the striking visual of the wooden boxes topped with futuristic-looking solar panels, it’s never the same twice. Colorusso has found a way to make the same elements work in a different way each time.

He started in the desert, but he’s taken Sun Boxes to sculpture parks in Maryland and his native Massachusetts as well, and even released a 7″ named the same as the installation, with the two sides “Frozen Pond” and “Grassy Field” featuring their respective environs. Though they’ll sound familiar to anyone who’s engaged themselves with drone before, the relaxing, subdued feel of the project comes through even just from the audio.

Colorusso — who has the 7″ available for purchase now on his website and is on Thee Facebooks here — was kind enough to let me host the tracks for streaming. You’ll find them on the player below, followed by some words from Colorusso himself. Please enjoy:

[mp3player width=460 height=120 config=fmp_jw_widget_config.xml playlist=sun-boxes.xml]

People often ask where all this came from. The short answer is… in November 2008, long time friend and collaborator, “Sexy” David Sanchez Burr called me up and said, “Yo! Make something solar. We’re going to the desert.” Then he hung up. Dave is the kind of guy when he’s on the phone you take the call. So, in June of 2009 we went to Rhyolite, Nevada, with Richard Voseller to a place called The Goldwell Open Air Museum. The three of us had a residency called “Off the Grid,” where we used sustainable energy to make art. Sun Boxes was my contribution.

The long answer is… I’m not sure. Although I would cite Dave as a catalyst the truth is I’ve been thinking about this a long time. 39 years of observations.

I really wanted make something people could feel like they’re part of physically. One of the things about Sun Boxes I love is as soon as you hear it or see it your in it. You decide how close you want get. I often find people on the edge of the array. I don’t like telling people what to do but I do encourage them to walk amongst the Boxes. It really sounds better in the middle of it all. I think it sounds best when you’re surrounded by the piece. Sun Boxes is loud enough to engulf the participant but quiet enough to allow ambient sounds of the environment to creep into the mix. Birds, traffic, wind, voices, feet crunching leaves, waves, all kinds of sounds sound very musical with Sun Boxes, even an ambulance full sirens.

Tags: Boston, Craig Colorusso, Massachusetts

This entry was posted on Tuesday, December 6th, 2011 at 11:43 am and is filed under audiObelisk. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.