HEARING CURVED SPACE

Mika with high and far rear cairn

high cairn, at base of windmill

Engaging a Baltic Sea windmill as part of the Midsummer Eve weekend celebrations in this Åland island community, the installation explores the intersection of two large-scale arcs of sound.

Adopted by the villagers as "Mika" (Mike), the beloved windmill sits atop a hill perpetually spinning, its blades whooshing through the air in a circular path that provides clean energy yearly for three-quarters of this small island's population of 300.

For one midsummer evening the windmill becomes the 195-foot high centerpiece for an art installation that features similar curved trajectories of sound extracted from recordings of the blades' motion through space.

Four cairns, front view of installation

Paivi with cliffside cairns, back of installation

When listening to the windmill blade motion, the curved paths of falling and rising while crossing space are clearly discernible. Below, the installation covers 400 feet of natural slopes of the hill to create a larger curved path for the speakers.

At the top of the hill the trajectories of installation sound and real time windmill sound intersect. Stone cairns, customary landmarks in this region of sea-weathered granite, provide bases for the loud speakers as they complete the installation.

Celebrating Midsummer Eve, a major Scandinavian holiday, this self-contained, wind powered installation 'tilts' with the windmill as it draws attention to the light that is available all year via the wind – for those who use smart energy.

Mikael meditates Hearing Curved Space