Experimental light and sound exhibit “Chromasonic — Field Study” will be on display at Compound Long Beach until June.
The exhibit, or rather “experience” as artist and co-founder Johannes Girardoni calls it, uses light and sound frequencies to bring people into a state of “radical consciousness.”
Through an algorithm developed by founders Girardoni, Orpheo McCord and Joel Shearer (the former being a founding member of Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeroes), the exhibit displays sound waves translated into light waves and vice versa light into sound.
The end result is a surreal experience. Standing amongst four 8-by-8-foot boxes at 10 feet tall—called “nodes”—the artists remove external stimulus in an attempt to bring viewers “into themselves.”
“I’ve seen people melt in there,” Compound Founder Megan Tagliaferri said. “I’ve seen them meditating in the corners […] cuddling together, laying on the floor, really trying to feel the vibrations of the experience.”
Girardoni and the team have been working on similar exhibitions since 2018. The three were introduced to one another by a mutual friend. Girardoni had been working on art that experimented with transforming light to sound using technology, while musicians McCord and Shearer were interested in translating sound to light.
The immersive exhibitions that came of their collaboration are currently being exhibited in Venice, Los Angeles and Colorado.
The exhibit on display at Compound is titled “Field Study” because that’s what it is: an opportunity for the Chromasonic founders to test out their new experiments.
The current display uses an algorithm that translates sounds into subtly changing hues of light. Behind the scenes, the algorithm is transforming the sounds of guitars, marimbas, piano and other instruments into colors on the nodes. Each month, a new algorithm will be on display.
“We’re gonna have these different evolutions of it over time while it’s up,” Girardoni said. “We’re super excited about having the opportunity at Compound to allow that kind of work to take place.”
In some ways, Chromasonic’s use of technology for presence is an antithesis of what technology is largely used for: to pull people’s attention away from themselves.
“We’re living in a world with ubiquitous technology all around us: screens galore and information,” Girardoni said, noting that presence is easier in nature and in meditation. “In the current cultural context we’re living in, it’s difficult to achieve that.”
By “dematerializing” viewers’ experience—removing all extra stimulus besides the glowing walls of the exhibit—the founders hope to create an environment where it’s easier for viewers to engage with themselves, to be present in the moment without distraction.
“Even five minutes in there, you’re like, the stress, the concerns and the worries that we’re all facing right now—it’s transformative,” Tagliaferri said. “You really feel connected to yourself when you leave there. It’s a very meditative experience.”
Compound’s focus on wellness, community building and “shifting consciousness” aligns with Chromasonic’s goal for “radical presence,” something that drew Tagliaferri to the project in the first place.
“What I was drawn to was the way that it can […] really transcend people’s well-being, consciousness and presence in this world,” Tagliaferri said. “And that’s just something that I feel like is so needed.”
“Chromasonic — Field Study” will be on display at Compound Long Beach (1395 Coronado Ave.) Thursday through Sunday, noon to 7 p.m. until June. Tickets to the exhibit cost $19 for students and $25 for adults and can be purchased on Eventbrite.
