In the Gaslight District of Cambridge, Ont., stand two projects of music and light, aiming to foster a sense of community.
By Marika Gabriel
River Lines, close to the Grand River, draws focus to the city’s forgotten waterfront. Its central axis reflects the high-water mark of the river when it flooded 50 years ago. Photos by doublespace photography/courtesy v2com
In the heart of 19th-century Galt, Ont., a foundry emerged as a beacon of innovation and progress, helping usher in a new era of early industrialization in the region. Today, a part of Cambridge, Ont., this once-thriving foundry has transformed into a dynamic hub of community and culture, known as the Gaslight District. Nestled in this urban public district are two installations conceptualized by Montreal-based art studio, Daily tous les jours, which intertwine art, technology, and history. These immersive experiences, commissioned by real estate developer HIP Developments, have transformed a courtyard into centres of activity and expression. They are called River Lines and Hello, Hello.
The endeavours were part of HIP Development’s vision for “Joy Experiments,” a project to foster community through urban installations. Both projects draw inspiration from the city’s rich history and heritage, telling their own story through music and light.
A walk to remember
In sync with a large screen in front of this interactive pavement, an animated map plots the movements of the players, creating a spectacle of light and sound.
River Lines: A stone’s throw from the Grand River, River Lines is a dynamic, interactive pavement installation, transforming a publicly accessible courtyard into a stage for impromptu musical ensembles by pedestrians and passersby.
With 62 light rings and sensors consisting of different instruments (kalimba, piano, guitar, kora, harp, violin) assigned to positions across the pavement’s surface, players can harmonize together to create a rich tapestry of music through simple footsteps. Twelve custom audio tiles were crafted to integrate into the pavement pattern without visible hardware. In sync with a large screen overlooking this interactive pavement, an animated map plots the movements of the players, creating a spectacle of light and sound.
A symphony of connection
Hello, Hello: At the foot of a bridge that spans the Grand River stands a five-storey, 13-m (42.6-ft) luminescent archway with multi-coloured lights marking a gateway into the Gaslight District. At the base of this archway are three microphone stations. Passersby can talk into these mics and watch as their voices travel up the archway in shafts of colour to create music and light. Voices get transformed into lyrical electronic phrases through a vocoder and are then transposed into echoing notes from a piano. The system is made to adapt to each person’s tone, cadence, and duration. If many people talk at once, voices interact with one another to create a unified chorus of light and sound.
Hello, Hello is inspired by the children’s game, broken telephone—where inputs and outputs don’t always match—with the aim to focus on presence, non-verbal cues, and the aspects often missing in online communication, creating musical bridges to bring people together.
Daily tous les jours has done several other projects in different parts of the world integrating interactive art, storytelling, performance, and urban living, with the aim to “reinvent living together in the 21st century.” HIP Developments, on the other hand, sees these installations as legacy projects, created by Cambridge locals for Cambridge residents and tourists, to make the area a public space encouraging connection and community within the public plaza.
Passersby can talk into these mics and watch as their voices travel up the archway in shafts of colour to create music and light.
