Music box (inert)
The music box (inert) project explores the balance between use and preservation by mediating multimodal interactions between a person and the object held within. Experienceable through a window on its top, two gloves protruding inward, and earbuds extending outward, the vessel holds a mouthpiece and music in an atmosphere that appears to be both chemically and acoustically separate from the outside world.
An imagined vessel to protect a meaningful object
Music Box (inert) mediates both decay and interaction by keeping out chemical and mechanical damage and keeping in any sound from the artifact. Initial concepts incorporate associations of sterility, multimodal interaction, and embodied understanding.
Background research for strategy on mediating physical interactions was taken from chapters on multimodality and embodiment in Lakoff (1999) and Dourish (2004).
cApturing beauty and history
The mouthpiece contained within the box is an original, hand lathed, Guilbault & Stölzel cornopean mouthpiece from between 1809 and 1815 made from leaded brass. It was during this period, and in the workshop that produced this mouthpiece, that Heinrich Stölzel invented the first valves for brass instruments, allowing for the first time the playing of all chromatic notes on a given instrument rather than only those notes contained in a given harmonic series.
Due to both the fragility and the toxicity of this historical artifact, preservation in an inert environment prolong lifespan. The addition of anechoic foam, earbuds, and heavy handed hardware channel the appearance of equipment used in recording technology.
Development
I worked through sketches and mockups to arrive at a simple design that focused on meaning and interaction. As directed in the assignment, I made the box prototype using the school wood shop.
form inspiration
The form of Music Box (inert) was inspired by the harshness and sterility of lab glove boxes, art preservation techniques, brutalism and anechoic chambers.
The piece of music audible through the earbuds on the box a recording of me performing the Hadyn Trumpet Concerto, the first major work written for brass instrument capable of continuous chromatic tuning, using the enclosed mouthpiece. Music Box (inert) is currently on display in the Northwestern Art Theory and Practice office in Kresge Centennial Hall.
