Sound can effect how we perceive a landscape. Ambient noises can influence our attitudes and perspectives towards a particular site, whether we are aware of the sound or not. Sudden, unexpected noises, or an incongruous, wafting narrative can introduce new vectors into our cognition of space. Even the idea of sound in a landscape may serve as another tool for altering conventional perspectives towards outdoor environments.

The Sound Emitting Device (SED) Program consists of an on-going series of out-door site installations that alter the landscape by the infusion of a sonic element. Some installations are meant to be seen as well as heard, as the device itself can be a transformative agent. In other installations the device is concealed, in which case the sound is the essential ingredient. Most installations are in remote locations, "concealed", as it were, " in plain sight". The SED's all seem to indulge in some form of negation, a human trait that is often evident in our methods and perspectives of land use.

The Device
The Sound Emitting Device (SED), in its four currently extant incarnations (more exist in various stages of development) consists of a looped audio cassette mechanism, amplifier and speaker, with a self-contained power supply, that is recharged by a photovoltaic system. All the components are housed in a weatherproof metal container, which, for the four current applications, is mounted on the end of a 2 3/8" diameter, 10 foot long steel pole. The assembly is then permanently installed at its designated site in a remote field location by cementing the base of the pole into the ground.

View some completed installations.