Edmonton composer creates sound art installation at southside LRT station

An artist has created a sound experience for people using the Mill Woods Stop of the Valley Line Southeast LRT. CTV News Edmonton's Connor Hogg has the details.

Edmonton commuters traveling to the Mill Woods Valley Line LRT stop will be treated to a new art installation that’s easy on the ears.

The sound piece titled A Path to the Near, which uses sound as a medium rather than a physical installation to deliver a specific ambience, was created using 21 speakers along a 100-metre long walkway between the LRT train and the bus station.

Dr. Nicolás Arnáez, the composer of the sound piece, told CTV News Edmonton what Edmontonians can expect to hear from the art installation.

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“These sounds are built in a way that you can embellish them, recognize them, bring them to your life, or also ignore them … passersby will experience sounds that are purposely prepared for them to be partners in their journey to home, to their commute to their houses,” said Arnáez, who holds a doctorate in music composition from the U of A.

The composer said the sound piece is intended to be listened to only if you want to pay attention to it, calling it “furniture music” – the same way one would not pay attention to someone’s furniture.

Arnáez composed the looping 10-minute piece with various vibraphones, a double bass and piano using four discrete audio channels which envelope the installation.

“The piece changes every time you listen to it because it depends on where you are standing, how fast you are moving, and what (direction you’re going) … the more you are here, the more things you will discover,” he said.

“All of these sounds become part of the piece and how they interact with the music instruments that are happening in the pathway is trying to help invite you to be aware of sounds we normally don’t think of.”

The Edmonton Arts Council brought the idea to Arnáez as a pilot project to introduce sound art to the city.

David Turnbull, the director of public art with Edmonton Arts Council, said they were looking to install an art piece that added more diverse art forms within their collection.

“We were just tossing some ideas around one day at the table. When the transit centre was undergoing development … we came up with the idea collectively (to) invest in the infrastructure and then (to) invest in artists to create artwork for that infrastructure,” Turnbull said.

“That led us to installing the speakers and then commissioning Nicolás to do the first sound art piece for us.”

If the project goes as planned, more artists will be brought in to produce more sound art to Edmonton’s art landscape.

The sound piece will play on repeat from 6 a.m. to 9 p.m.