Organum pineale. Design and implementation of a site-responsive sound installation

The paper describes the sound installation Organum pineale, that has been commissioned by the National Museum of Cinema of Torino in the occasion of the “#FacceEmozioni” exhibition, dedicated to the relation between face expressiveness and emotions. The installation is site-responsive and exploits the peculiar acoustic features of a part of the Museum building, the so-called “Orecchia”. On one hand, the installation was meant to provide a sonic analogon of the main theme of the exhibition, in particular in relation to Descartes’ conceptualization of passions. On the other, its design aimed at emphasizing the unusual acoustic features of the Orecchia, a visually empty space, but very rich on the aural side. Organum pineale features a 28 + 4.1. audio system, delivering sound materials originating from a selection of films, that have been tagged in relation to Descartes’ six main passions. The overall sound process involves spatialized audio and a generative feedback sys- tem exploiting the room acoustics.