Dunewind Resonator
Michael Ang, Scott Kildall, Tegan Ritz McDuffie
Sound installation and video, 2023
Dunewind Resonator is a set of electronic sound sculptures that transform a sand dune into a musical instrument that responds to the wind.
The five wind-activated sculptures that compose Dunewind Resonator were installed at the top of a sand dune in the desert of Abu Dhabi in 2023. The sculptures capture live wind data as they tilt and twirl in the gusts passing over the crest of the dune and generate a musical composition that is amplified into speakers buried in the dune face. The musical composition contains sonic fragments of instruments such as the oud, synthesized sounds designed to stimulate the resonant sub-surface structure of the dune, and human voices.
The energy of the wind forms the dunes into a landscape that is vast yet constantly shifting and impermanent. Dunewind Resonator facilitates a cycle of energy transfer from air to land and back to air by transforming the dunes into the soundboard of a musical instrument that is activated by the wind. Each of our electronic sensors rests on a shredded tire, an anticipated epilogue to the automobile age, which like all things, will not last forever.
Dunewind Resonator uses the Datapod environmental sonification technology developed by Scott Kildall and Michael Ang and was installed in the Al Khazna (الخزنة) desert in Abu Dhabi, UAE.
Learn more at https://michaelang.com/project/dunewind-resonator.
Locate: Building C3, Ground Floor, Near the Cube
about the artists
Michael Ang (Mang) is an artist and engineer who creates light objects, interactive installations, and technological tools that expand the possibilities of human expression and connection. Applying a hacker’s aesthetic, he often repurposes existing technology to create human-centered experiences in public space and the open field. Countering the trend for technology to dissociate us from ourselves and surroundings, Michael’s works connect us to each other and the experience of the present moment. He is the co-inventor of the Infl3ctor, the projection system for Digital Calligraffiti. He currently teaches in the Interactive Media program at New York University Abu Dhabi.
Scott Kildall is a new media artist who looks at the interplay between territory and technology. He sees this as a dynamic relationship, which changes as the dissemination of new inventions shift and then resettle structures of power. He has received fellowships, awards and residencies from organizations including the SETI Institute, ZERO1, Santa Fe Art Institute, Impakt Works, Autodesk, Recology San Francisco, Turbulence.org, Eyebeam Art + Technology Center, The Kala Art Institute and The Banff Centre for the Arts. His work has been exhibited internationally at venues including the New York Hall of Science, Transmediale, the Venice Biennale, the Vancouver Art Gallery and the San Jose Museum of Art. He currently resides in San Francisco.
Tegan Ritz McDuffie is a performance and installation artist and organizer. She has worked and trained internationally with Adishakti Theatre Arts, Digital Naturalism Conference, Company of Wolves, Theater Mitu, and as the Instructor of Project and Stage Management at NYU Abu Dhabi. She received her BFA in Directing from Carnegie Mellon University, and was a Fulbright Research scholar in Berlin. She is currently establishing an environmental performance studio on a small organic farm in Pennsylvania.