The Sound from Distance (2022) 

The Sound from Distance project tries to explore the interaction between audiences and artworks using distance as a medium. This light and sound-installed interactive house lets audiences experience different perceptions while approaching the artwork inside the house. 

The project comes from our childhood days. Growing up in a rural area of Thailand, I have fond memories of going near a canal with my friends to listen to the sounds of crickets and to observe the beautiful blinks of the fireflies. These insects were sprawling in the trees and around the canal. We wanted to collect them and bring them back home. However, when we approached the area where we thought the crickets were, the sounds disappeared. Likewise, when we caught the fireflies, they would die soon after. The fireflies did not flash anymore. 

It was then that we remembered the wisdom from our parents: “The distance between humans and nature is important. To admire its beauty, people must respect nature.” The sound of the crickets and the blinks of the fireflies will never be charming if people /do not care about the proper distance. 

With this thought in mind, we wanted to represent the importance of distance between audiences and artworks to see their ideal beauty.  

This project is an installation of many insect robots inside an abandoned house. Each insect can make a unique musical note and synchronize with other insect robots to form melodic patterns. We hope that the ambience in the house will be like someone playing a musical instrument, but the notes surround you. 

We added a little gimmick: the insect robots glow with the tempo of the music. This can make them look like a swarm of fireflies. We also added a distance sensor to each robot. If someone comes too close to the front of the robot, it will go silent and not glow anymore. When the person steps backward and out of the sensor’s range, it will resume playing music and glow again.  

We hope this project can communicate to the audience the importance of proper distance in appreciating beauty and art.