This is an imaginary landscape made of environmental sounds and the images that they evoke. The presence of this sound sculpture is meant to create a space of fantasy out of the hidden soundscapes of Miami Beach.
Wallcast projection of Sonic Dreamscapes in Soundscape Park running 7pm to midnight
Sonic Dreamscapes is listening to and looking at the Miami Beach coast. It is an artistic response to the issues of rising sea levels. It is immersing Soundscape Park with deep underwater sounds while projecting the interactions of dynamic coastal waves with light. It is an immersive sonic and visual meditation designed to give the sea around Miami Beach a passionate voice that awakens a new awareness of the fundamental importance of the issues of climate change and rising sea levels.
These are video excerpts from some of the more than 20 audio video works that are a part of this artwork.
At times, Sonic Dreamscapes is not only resounding the seas around Miami Beach but is sometimes singing with multiple moving voices from the only song bird that creates its own music from listening to other birds and sounds, the Northern Mockingbird, which is also the state bird of Florida. This bird holds symbolic significance not only for this nature-inspired sound sculpture, but also for its spiritual connection to Bill Fontana’s work as a sound artist who, throughout his career, has created music through listening. A long standing tenant of Fontana’s work as a sound artist has been perceiving and understanding the world around him through discovering patterns and relationships in ambient sounds, much like the Northern Mockingbird does.
"Mockingbirds take most of their sounds from the environment, sometimes from other mockingbirds, and always including a range of other bird vocalizations. Mockingbird songs may also incorporate the vocalizations of non-avian species, such as mammals (including the pet dog!) or frogs, and even electronic sounds, like car alarms and cell phones. These sounds are learned, memorized, and incorporated into the mockingbird’s ever-expanding repertoire”.